There are many downsides to embracing b bring your own deviceb .B Since sticking your head in the sand is probably not the best approach, it may help to know what other companies have found as they waded into this water.
One of the main issues is that employees donb t see the risk that mobile device access poses for the company.B Without an understanding of the problem, it can seem like the company is just being uncooperative or not employee-friendly.B The cost of an unhappy employee is substantial.B And, using the threat of termination is not an effective strategy.
So, itb s important to educate employees about the significant concerns.B These include:
- Viruses and malware being transferred to the corporate network
- Protecting the privacy of sensitive company or customer data
- Providing support for proprietary applications on many platforms and devices
- Managing reimbursements for devices and usage
If employees see BYOD as a benefit, they will be more likely to cooperate with the established b Bring Your Own Device Policyb .B For BYOD to work, management, IT and the end-user all need to know what their responsibilities are and what will happen if policies are compromised.B In other words, you need buy-in!
What would I like to leave you with?B A Cisco study found that the average knowledge worker today carries 2.8 mobile devices.B If itb s anything like having children, one is manageable but with two or more the work grows exponentially.B Creating a well thought out b Mobile Device Management Planb can help you cut the problem back down to size.
