With 60 percent of companies currently offering bring your own device (BYOD) to their employees—and that number expected to rise to 90 percent in 2014—there’s no denying the trend is here to stay. But perhaps even more intriguing is a recent prediction that 50 percent of companies will mandate BYOD by 2017.

"BYOD strategies are the most radical change to the economics and the culture of client computing in business in decades," explains David Willis, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner (News - Alert). "The benefits of BYOD include creating new mobile workforce opportunities, increasing employee satisfaction, and reducing or avoiding costs."

In addition to those benefits, employees are more comfortable working with technology with which they’re familiar. There are no learning curves with new platforms or applications when employees are already knowledgeable with the tools they need to perform business tasks.

But the benefits don’t stop there. According to a recent survey, business executives reported that BYOD was hugely beneficial to enterprise. And here’s how:

• 73 percent of businesses increased efficiency with BYOD
• 51 percent of executives think BYOD increases creativity
• 47 percent of executives feel BYOD increased productivity
• 43 percent of executives encouraged BYOD programs because of the ability to work offsite

BYOD gives employees the ability to work at whatever time they want from wherever they happen to be. Granting employees remote access to their work email and work network has proven to encourage them to put in as many as five to 10 more hours of work per week. While business owners certainly don’t want to work their employees to death, some employees will take the initiative to stay on top of work so it doesn’t pile up or simply work harder to prove their merit and get ahead in their own careers.

The modern business environment has changed. People no longer need to be in an office to conduct business or complete tasks. In fact, three out of five workers surveyed said they don’t need to be in an office to be productive. Everyone is on the run these days, and mobile devices help us stay connected at all times.

Business can’t keep personal mobile devices out of the workplace. And with benefits of cost savings, increased employee happiness and increased productivity, one should expect to see enterprises across every industry continue to embrace the BYOD movement.