Enterprise Mobility: It’s Time to Rethink BYOD
Seventy percent of mobile professionals will conduct their work on personal smart devices by 2018, Gartner predicts, making implementing a ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) policy for your business imperative. Under this system, employees are allowed to utilize their own electronic devices in the workplace, whether they are laptop computers, tablets or smartphones. A wide array of employers are beginning to see the value in an enterprise mobility approach, in particular those operating on a smaller scale. But while the BYOD workplace has the potential to cut costs and increase innovation, it also can pose quite the security risk. The following are a few of the most important concerns employers should keep in mind while navigating the difficult decision of whether to take on the BYOD approach to the workplace.
Who Pays for What?
When the employer owns all the devices, the payment plan is pretty cut and dry — the employer is in charge of covering the cost of the device, the software and any service plan required for its use. But issues of payment become more complicated when an employee uses their own device. Employers are not eager to spring for any use of data plans unrelated to work, but employees need their devices for work, as well as for other functions. Many employees have willingly taken on the majority of service costs on their own, with the stipulation they will be able to use their devices as they see fit after work hours.
Employee Training
Smartphones remain, unfortunately, terrible in terms of security. This is not so much because they are incapable of keeping intruders out, but even with the best security setup, a careless user will be more likely to leave essential information easily accessible to suspicious characters. Thus, in order to maintain full security, employers adopting BYOD will need to invest in training. During this process, employees should be made aware of the security risks related to BYOD before learning the protocol necessary to keep such hazards to a minimum. Three in four employees are not adequately trained in BYOD privacy, Apps Tech News reports. Don’t let your employees fall under the umbrella of this unfortunate statistic.
Acceptable Use Policy
An essential part of any BYOD employee training session involves a thorough overview of your company’s acceptable use policy. Such policies are being adopted en masse by businesses unwilling or unable to go through the stifling restrictions related to apps. Acceptable use policies can be as thorough or as bare bones as you like, although a middle ground is best for providing a balance between security and employee freedom. After all, if data access in the workplace is overly restricted, employees may not be able to complete their work to the best of their ability. Microsoft suggests any acceptable use policy include guidelines for third-party usage. For example, whether employees’ children or spouses can use work-related devices,coverage payments, employee monitoring, and licensing. Other issues may be addressed as the employer sees fit.
From payment to security, a thorough acceptable use policy’s setup can be mutually beneficial for employers and employees.
Image by Ed Yourdon via Flickr