Introduction
Mobile devices have become an integral part of the everyday work environment. Everywhere you turn, you see someone using a smart phone to read email, find an unfamiliar location or communicate with a colleague. People use tablets and laptops for these tasks, too. Mobile devices can and do increase productivity. Company‐issued mobile devices are tricky enough to manage. When employers start allowing employees to bring their own devices to work, things begin to get even trickier. For small and medium businesses, the bring your own device (BYOD) trend is readily embraced. Regardless of how affordable mobile devices may be, providing one for each employee still cuts into a business’ bottom line. So, many small‐ and medium‐business owners are loath to provide company‐issued mobile devices. Some company leaders who lack the budgets necessary to issue smart phones, tablets or other mobile devices might think the best way to go is to not allow the use of mobile devices at all. This can cause problems particularly when it comes to business continuity. If employees can’t access the company’s network or the files they need to complete their daily tasks from anywhere at any time, how will they work when disaster strikes? The BYOD trend may not be as bad as it seems. True, IT and management must work together to come up with ways to ensure the safety and security of company data while simultaneously ensuring that employees’ personal files aren’t also at risk. As you will see, solutions already exist that can significantly minimize the security risks involved with allowing employees to use their own devices for work and make BYOD a less frightening option.Mobile devices have become an integral part of the everyday work environment.
Corporate-Issued versus Individual Devices
Corporate‐issued devices are probably preferred because they allow business owners to have greater control over what types of devices are used and the protection of company data. If a business owner prefers Apple devices, then those are what get issued. All data encryption, remote wiping etc. solutions can be pre‐installed before the devices are distributed. IT can establish safeguards against what websites employees can access and what applications they can download. For IT and the business leader, corporate‐issued devices make life easier. With individual devices, less control exists. Employees often own the types of devices that they prefer or can easily afford; however, according to Troy Fulton, director of product marketing for Tangoe, companies can tell employees what types of mobile devices are acceptable to use for work. This makes it easier for company IT professionals or outsourced managed IT services providers (MSPs) to manage and, if applicable, maintain the devices.Responsibility
One of the biggest concerns when it comes to BYOD is responsibility. With corporate issued devices, the company assumes all responsibility for them. If a device breaks, gets lost or stolen, the company is automatically responsible for repairing or replacing it. With an employee‐owned device, if the device gets lost, stolen or damaged who is responsible for replacing or repairing it? Fulton believes that there should be a shared responsibility between the company and employee for an employee’s personal device when it’s being used for work purposes as well as personal tasks. But it’s up to each business leader to determine who is responsible for what and to what degree. Employees, naturally, believe that when it comes to maintaining the device, since they’re using it for business, the business’ IT department should take care of all repairs and if the device gets lost or stolen, the company should be willing to, at least, share responsibility for replacing it. Business leaders don’t always agree with that. When an employee who uses a personal device for work as well as personal browsing, shopping, etc., business leaders often believe that the employee should assume sole responsibility for the repair and, if necessary, replacement of the device. It’s not company issued, so why should maintaining it be a company responsibility? Such concerns must be addressed before as part of any discussion around implementing a BYOD policy, and everyone, including employees, need to have an opportunity to give their opinions and share their ideas.Data Management
Data security is another concern. Too often, we hear about data breaches that have given hackers access to clients’ personal information or a business’ intellectual property. These types of leaks can cause a small or medium business to go out of business … and many do. This can’t all be blamed on allowing employees to bring their own devices work. But, of course, allowing an employee to use a personal device does increase risk because besides using his mobile device to access company files, he’s also using it to access myriad websites and download applications that all have the potential to introduce malware to the device. This concern exists with corporate‐issued devices, too, just to a lesser degree when IT can limit an employee’s Web habits. With corporate‐issued devices, solutions like remote wiping and GPS tracking can be done without an employee’s permission. But when it comes to individual devices, it’s often necessary to get an employee’s permission before installing remote wiping capabilities or allowing GPS tracking. Also, GPS tracking is okay in the U.S., but in some European countries, tracking an individual’s device, even if it’s used for company business, is a no‐no. This hinders an IT professional’s efforts to locate a device and retrieve it quickly. In such cases, remote wiping is the only real option. Remote wiping seems like a great answer, until an employee quits or gets fired, and the IT department wipes the whole device, including that person’s personal photos and other files, which weren’t backed up on a jump drive or disk or anything else. Then remote wiping doesn’t seem so great. www. Ulistic.com | 289.362.3632 | info@ulistic.comDevice Management
Among some of the biggest challenges that IT professionals face with BYOD is managing multiple devices. Many MSPs have the capability to manage various devices, but the average in‐house IT department is not usually so versatile. With solutions like Tangoe’s MDM (mobile device management) tool, business owners can be device agnostic because their IT staff can use one tool to manage company data and employees’ devices. Having a way to manage multiple devices through one tool could greatly reduce the stress on IT’s shoulders and make employees happy because it allows them to have complete control over what type of devices they choose to own. The real key here, as Fulton pointed out, is not figuring out how to better secure the devices but the company data. Although training employees how to use things like passwords to secure their devices and being mindful of their surroundings are great, it’s better to have policies that are designed to ensure the protection of company data with things like encryption and remote wiping. Lior Rapaport, vice‐president of mobility for Array Networks also suggested using something like his company’s Desktop Direct tool to prevent employees from being able to access the company network from or download files to their mobile devices.Applications
“If you went out and polled 10 tablet users,” said Rapaport, “I think all 10 will tell you that native mobile apps are the best way to go. They’re the easiest to manipulate, use and all of that. The challenge here is that although there are so many apps available, relatively few of them are related to what we do in our daily business.” That’s the next challenge for entrepreneurs and companies like Tangoe and Array Networks to address. In the meantime, IT departments must have protections in place that will minimize the risk of malicious applications making their way onto employee devices or, worse, infiltrating their companies’ networks. The list of applications that people use for work every day is a pretty long one. Email, of course, is the most commonly used, but delivery workers, health care workers, legal staff, etc., all need applications that are commonly used in their industries to already exist on their devices. A tall order, true, but probably not impossible.Conclusion
Mobile devices are great in many ways. They make it easier for people to stay connected with friends and family … and work. Because they can access files from anywhere, people tend to be more productive. From a business continuity standpoint, a mobile workforce is a godsend. But not all business leaders can afford to provide their employees with mobile devices, so they opt for the bring your own device (BYOD) policy. Once upon a time, not so long ago, allowing employees to use personal devices for work seemed like the worst possible thing to do. Today, that’s the case. There are solutions available that can make BYOD as easy to manage as a company‐ issued device plan. Small‐ and medium‐business owners who fear that BYOD could do more harm than good are invited to explore their options, preferably by taking advantage of a no‐obligation consultation with a reliable managed IT services provider.About Tangoe: Tangoe is a global provider of Communications Lifecycle Management (CLM) software and related services to a wide range of global enterprises. CLM encompasses the entire lifecycle of an enterprise’s communications assets and services, including planning and sourcing, procurement and provisioning, inventory and usage management, invoice processing, expense allocation and accounting, mobile device management (MDM), decommissioning, and disposal. Founded in 2000, Tangoe currently supports more than 500 active clients, many of them large multinational corporations. Headquartered in Orange, Connecticut, Tangoe currently operates nine operation centers around the globe, including international offices in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Kunshan, China. Tangoe solutions are also offered through a worldwide network of strategic partners. About Array Networks: Array Networks is a global leader in networking solutions for connecting users and applications while ensuring performance, availability and security. Using Array, companies can provide access for any user, anywhere, on any device to applications, desktops and services running in either the cloud or the enterprise data center. From websites to e‐commerce to enterprise applications to cloud services, Array solutions deliver a premium end‐user experience and demonstrable security while ensuring that revenue and productivity gains always outweigh capex and opex. About Ulistic: Ulistic provides awareness marketing and business development services for managed IT service providers and IT consulting firms globally. Based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Ulistic provides full consulting and marketing execution services geared at one ultimate goal. Achieving effective inbound lead generation and stratospheric success. Ulistic focuses on working with leaders across the entire organization from marketing professionals, sales professionals and corporate leadership. Call Ulistic today at 289‐362‐3632 to book a no obligation discussion of your IT services marketing, sales and business development processes, procedures and current success. www. Ulistic.com | 289.362.3632 | info@ulistic.com
