In addition, BYOD program success requires more than device-support. Both Fung and Ng admitted that smooth program operation takes an enormous amount of effort across departments and within IT shops.

While less than 10% of Midland's workers have no experience of using smartphones in Midland Realty, Fung's team continues to control the app installation work. "There are about 5,000 employees in Midland," said Fung. "We are practical enough to know not all of them are able or want to do app installation by themselves."

According to Fung, there are additional costs associated with infrastructure. In each of the Midland's branch, there is now extra bandwidth for Internet connection because of higher number of mobile devices in use, he said. "But we will also use the extra bandwidth for other purposes in the future such as VoIP and fax over IP, so in the longer term BYOD won't result in higher infrastructure cost."

To reduce mobile app costs such as license fees, Midland either develops mobile apps in-house or outsources development to service providers.

Asked if the firm hires extra app-development talent to cope with the increased workload for its 40-strong IT team, Fung said it's hard to hire the right people. "Turnover rate for app development pros is high," he said. "And they are costly--a pro with two to three years of experience on average asks for HK$20-30,000 a month," Fung noted.