Partner Article

BYOD: jumping the hurdles

There has been much said of late about the Bring Your Own Device trend that is infiltrating the work place. As smartphone and tablet use becomes ubiquitous, it is unsurprising that employees are increasingly looking to bring these devices into the office with them. Forrester recently predicted that by 2016 200 million employees in North America and Europe will be bringing their own devices into the workplace.

The benefits of BYOD are well-documented: cost savings, improved collaboration, and increased productivity. Yet, for IT departments faced with the challenge of implementing such a programme, there are a number of obvious questions. How will this be managed? Is there already a substantial corporate policy for this?

With this in mind, there are some steps IT teams can take which will give them a distinct advantage when facing the significant hurdles of BYOD:

Step 1 – Great Expectations

Employees are bringing in their own devices voluntarily, yet there still needs to be a clear corporate policy to which users must agree. These terms might be around password obligations, the need for anti-virus software or the use of on-device cameras. There must also be clear rules around the consequences of policy violation. For example, one stipulation could be that access to the corporate network is dependent on the use of an appropriately secure password. Other practicalities which businesses must consider include questions around voice and data limits – and the subsequent expenses. Have a clear company viewpoint on who is responsible for data charges.

Step 2 – IT capability

It goes without saying that BYOD can be a headache for IT teams. This is why it is essential that IT looks at its true capacity – and considers automating some of the time-heavy, every-day activities. For example, self-service management devices can supplement a BYOD programme by reliving IT staff of some simple jobs, such as device enrolment.

Step 3 – What, when, where?

Companies need to determine the device types and operating systems that will be allowed on the network. What’s more, questions need to be asked about what sort of data the devices will be allowed to access. This is why it is essential that all devices are correctly enrolled. A key part of the enrolment process is installing a profile on the device that applies and enforces the company’s relevant security, data protection and other policies.

BYOD is undoubtedly an evolutionary step for business IT and reflects the wider trend around a blurring between our work and personal lives. Forrester has revealed that around 54% of firms in North America and Europe have already deployed BYOD programmes. This is encouraging news, but all companies are well-advised to put in this effort to overcome the BYOD hurdles now, in order to avoid the headaches later.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Raj Sabhlok .