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June 18, 2014

Pillars of a Sound BYOD Policy

Nine out of 10 Millennials hop on their smartphones before their first cup of coffee — a clear sign, according to Real Business, that we're embarking on an always "on" society. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) wasn't so much a product of a "just do it yourself" corporate trend, but a matter of convenience. Corporate culture is leaning toward the progressive — open floor, no offices, flex hours — and seeding the idea that staff performs better in an office environment that intermingles work with social.

It's time to join the party, but as an IT manager, you should first be aware of the caveats of BYOD implementation before rolling it out company-wide. Server access is a larger issue, as is monitoring, and it's probably time to buy into the cloud, or at least tweak your current configuration.

Risk and Liability

With newfound efficiency comes another bullet point on the employment contract. BYOD puts the squeeze on security because of the slightly more palpable risk of a data breach — if new hires are granted use of their own devices, they need to know that.

Fortunately, maintaining liability keeps your staff's confidence, and takes the sting out of a situation that goes to court. The best way to keep the Earth spinning though, according to Business News Daily, is with a BYOD security policy that includes timed access, and limiting sensitive information to the office itself.

Scaling Your Cloud

Often, those who use the cloud overlook its purposes beyond data virtualization, and those purposes come to fruition when dealing with BYOD. Because personal devices have the concurrent benefit of allowing folks to telecommute, cloud solutions must scale to account for use outside of the physical workplace. Design a model that renders an infrastructure that limits IT investment and gives the people upstairs exactly what they asked for.

Personal Monitoring

Smartphones don’t have native methods of segregating data based on priority to the user, so the ability to scrutinize employee communication flirts with a very long ethical line. You cannot and should not lump personal information in with that of work, but that doesn't mean you're helpless with nothing but the honor system. Reduce location-tracking to just the office. Explore permissions placed on different lines of communication, so you're automatically checking yourself when monitoring deviates from company content.

Aiming higher? BlackBerry's Secure Work Space, which Reuters reports as having recently received federal security clearance, erects a digital territory around data and apps exclusively for work. The platform runs on Android or iOS, unlimited even to those using devices made by their employers' competition. And when staff members leave the company, that platform may simply be lifted.

The BYOD trend is seeing growth that mutates the common perception of how easy it is to implement. Legal departments need to bone up — morals are at stake — and too many devices exist for a one-size-fits-all solution.

Lucy is a Nebraska native and entrepreneur who’s launched three at-home businesses.




Edited by Maurice Nagle


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