What are the advantages of BYOI to businesses?

Bring your own identity (BYOI) sign on has proven to be divisive amongst users as it becomes more of a widespread form of online and account authorization. Whilst the efficiency of using existing profiles to access new platforms and tools is broadly welcomed, many users believe this may be coming at the expense of private data stored on the profiles.

This has led to many businesses offering BYOI as an option, but not a requirement – allowing users the choice. And many businesses will be encouraging a greater number of their customers to sign in using existing identities, due to the selection of benefits it provides the customer.

Reduced administration costs

The forgotten username/password cycle can be a huge drain on resources – necessitating a manual or automated system to reset account details and alerting the user. BYOI can completely eradicate this cycle, with the credentials registered to a third party disassociated with the business. Reducing the total number of identities created by customers simplifies the process of remembering usernames and passwords – reducing the overall need to seek replacements.

Greater mobile adoption

In early 2014, mobile browsing edged ahead of desktop web browsing for the first time in the internet’s history, and this method of using online services continues to grow at a steady rate. This makes it all the more important for businesses to ensure their web presence is as mobile-friendly as possible. Whilst mobile browsing may be on the up, tasks such as creating profiles which require considerable typing are still simpler on desktops with a physical keyboard.

Simple one-touch BYOI sign-on can accommodate great use of a platform from mobile devices – helping a business secure the growing mobile browsers.

Potential for strong security

One of the arguments which has been levelled against BYOI since the method was first introduced is the greater security risks that customers may face. It is argued that reducing web profiles to one single identity could put a user’s whole online presence at risk.

However, an in-house security and authentication system may not be as reliable or robust as those provided by giant social media platforms or cloud service providers. The likes of Google, Facebook and Twitter have invested huge sums into creating extremely robust encryption methods, giving customers robust protection.

This means that a BYOI strategy could be just as secure as necessitating the creation of bespoke accounts. When used in tandem with multi-factor authentication depending upon the sensitivity of the data and the process, BYOI could be an integral part of a hugely secure and robust login process for customers.

If users practice due diligence when providing information and signing out of profiles – their information and private data will be protected with all the force provided by some of the world’s top web security teams.