Unfamiliar with BYOD? Here’s Where to Begin

A trend that’s taking the office by storm is BYOD, or Bring Your Own Device. These policies entail workers bringing their own devices to the office and using them for work-related purposes. While this opens up many avenues for enhanced productivity and efficiency, being too laissez faire with your BYOD policy could instigate some problems later on, primarily in the security field.

Why BYOD?
Before diving head-first into BYOD, you should take a moment to consider why you want a BYOD policy in the first place. If you’re concerned about your team using their personal devices for work because you think they’ll waste time playing games, perhaps a BYOD policy might not be the best solution for you and your business. If you’re allowing your team to bring their devices to work, you need to be prepared to take certain steps to guarantee productivity and security. Additionally, the Internet of Things complicates the nature of BYOD. More devices are connected to the Internet than ever before. In light of these complications, you might feel that BYOD is a security discrepancy, at best.

However, contrary to some opinions out there, BYOD has incredible potential to be beneficial for your business’s operations. With BYOD, your team can feel encouraged to work more hours, especially from the comfort of their own home. Additionally, some employees find themselves more productive using their own familiar devices rather than the foreign company-provided machines. Finally, being able to use their own devices can be a significant morale booster for your team, and you know what they say; when you feel good, you work even better.

Integrate Solid Guidelines
Integrating a BYOD policy into your business strategy is one that requires precision and careful thought. More often than not, it requires a dedicated project manager that knows their way around the industry. If this is your first foray into the unknown wilds of BYOD management, it’d be best to contact Preferred and let our trusted technicians help you find your way forward.

As for a general pointer, one of the best things you can do is to set up specific guidelines that your team should abide by when using their devices for work. Without set-in-stone rules that can be applied company-wide, you risk the chance of someone being out of the loop, and therefore, not abiding by the rules you’ve put in place for your organization.

Mobile Device Management
It can be time-consuming and difficult to integrate your own BYOD policy, especially if you aren’t sure how to approach doing so. A mobile device solution from Preferred can make these difficult decisions for you. In order to maximize security, the mobile device management solution can perform these functions:

• Limits network access to secured wireless devices. With a BYOD policy, you’ll have a lot of new devices attempting to access your network. It’s important that only devices which have been approved have this access. Otherwise, you might be opening up your network to a whole new host of threats.
• Whitelists and blacklists applications. Certain applications request data from the mobile device which accesses them. Many users will download a new application and immediately install it, ignoring the window which reveals what personal information the app pulls from your device. We can limit the information which is shared with applications by whitelisting and blacklisting them.
• Remotely wipes misplaced devices. Devices that hold sensitive corporate data could accidentally fall into the wrong hands, be it a competitor, a hacker, or just a jerk. It’s your job as the business owner to make sure you’re ready to deal with this regrettable situation. Setting up remote device wiping is a good way to ensure that your private data stays private, even when it’s misplaced.

If you’re ready to get started with BYOD, but you aren’t sure what the best approach is, give Preferred a call at 708-781-7110. We’ll be sure to help you understand and implement the best BYOD strategy for your business.