MSPNetworks Blog

With technology becoming more mobile, the way we interact with tech has changed considerably. Now that dial-up has evolved to broadband and cellular networks have dramatically improved, technology has allowed people to become more connected than ever. Your business can improve its communications and operations with the right mobile technology.

Let’s face it; running a business can be expensive, and taking any measures possible to mitigate those costs can have huge benefits for your bottom line. One way companies are minimizing costs is by implementing a Bring Your Own Device policy, or BYOD, to allow employees to use their own personal devices for work purposes. We’re here to help you do so without putting security at risk.

But first, what does a Bring Your Own Device policy entail, and why is it so popular and effective for businesses?

BYOD is More Than Just an Employee Convenience

BYOD, when implemented properly, can give your employees the ability to use their personal devices for work purposes, opening up a whole range of benefits for both the employer and the employee. For the employee, they get to use a device they are familiar with, allowing them to be more productive. For the employer, they save capital by not having to provide employees with technology.

These benefits, however, are only effective when the devices are properly managed and secured. Let’s discuss some ways you can keep BYOD from becoming a liability for your company.

Issues Related to BYOD Strategy

Plan Ahead

Most business decisions cannot be made haphazardly, especially when it comes to technology implementation. You’ll want to take your time and consider the various elements involved with any change to your technology strategy. For example, you will want to consider that your business is working with data, and that data should not be accessed by anyone without the proper permissions; especially on a device that you don’t have much control over.

This is where classification comes in. Assign levels of classification to dictate who can access which data and on which devices. A good rule to follow is that you should work from the principle of least privilege. Provide the least amount of access possible for your staff to do their jobs, and nothing more until it becomes evident that they need further access. The fewer people who can access said data, the more secure it will be.

Be Prepared for Problems

The best way to prevent issues from escalating is to expect them to happen and be ready to address them. You might run into issues with your expectations for the policy differing from your team’s, which could lead to friction between management and your workforce. As such, you need to be ready to respond to situations where your authority and their privacy might clash.

We recommend that you always be transparent with your team about security and make sure their privacy is a priority whenever possible. We’ll cover this topic in greater detail in a moment, but for now, try to make security as easy as possible by providing them with easy-to-use tools like password managers and antivirus to reduce friction whenever possible.

Weigh Privacy and Security Appropriately

Ultimately, the trickiest part about BYOD is managing the balance between security and privacy in a way where your team feels respected and in control of their own technology, not the other way around. Your BYOD policy should maintain privacy without sacrificing security, something that a mobile device management tool can make much easier to manage. This will help to reduce friction whenever possible.

Let MSPNetworks Help

If you’re ready to implement BYOD, we can help make the process easier. To learn more, call us at (516) 403-9001 today.

One of the most effective means for a business to shave a few dollars off its budget (and potentially boost employee engagement, for that matter) is to adopt something called a Bring Your Own Device policy—effectively, an agreement that allows their team members to access business-owned documents and files on devices they personally own to get their work done. While these policies have been shown to be very effective, they also need to be carefully considered so they can be adopted appropriately.

Let’s take a few moments to review some practices that are recommended for a secure BYOD implementation.

Determine Acceptable Parameters

Device and OS Requirements

For your productivity to remain intact and for your organizational security to be preserved, the tools your team brings to use need to meet the baselines that you set—otherwise, there is likely to be a shortcoming that leaves an opening. Certain workflows may require a specific operating system to be used, simply for the processes to be compatible. Keeping track of your team’s chosen hardware will help you determine if their devices are eligible to participate.

Accepted Software

On the topic, your business workflows should have defined software solutions identified for your team to use so that processes can flow smoothly. Make sure your team knows that they are expected to use these titles for their work processes and that they are expected to have certain protections in place on their mobile devices before they can use them to work.

Upkeep Policies

When using a personal device to access your business’ network, there needs to be some supported expectation that the user will ensure that the device remains functional and secure. This could mean that only authorized dealers or professionals are authorized to perform basic maintenance tasks and that these tasks are carried out promptly.

Security Preparations

Encryption Policies

In terms of protecting your data from the prying eyes of hackers, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more effective method than encrypting it. Considering this, it is important that you encourage/require encryption to be put in place as a part of any BYOD policies you implement.

Password Standards

We know, we know… the importance of secure passwords is a topic that has been covered frontways, backways, and every which way for a long time. However, once people start to follow these guidelines, we’ll stop bringing it up. When it comes to strong passwords, make sure your team is using them on all their devices, and that these devices are set to lock if an incorrect password is repeatedly entered.

Data Handling Guidelines

Where your data is concerned, you need to also establish the proper means for it to be stored and accessed while an employee is using a personal device. Ideally, your BYOD plan will have the means to block any data transfers to an insecure device as well as establish the proper procedures for accessing this data.

Necessary Prerequisites

Data Removal Circumstances

When an employee’s device has access to your company’s data via a BYOD strategy, it is critical that you retain the means to rescind that access as needed—like if a device is lost or stolen, or if an employee leaves the company. You may also want to include the right to review an employee’s device for company-owned data so that it can be removed if they were to leave so that your data isn’t brought elsewhere or abused.

Lost or Stolen Device Procedures

On the topic, your team needs to have a reporting process to follow should something happen to their device that will help to ensure that mitigating actions can be appropriately taken. Reinforce that these reports need to be promptly submitted to help minimize the potential impact of such occurrences.

Breach of Policy Consequences

Finally, you need to establish how employees will be reprimanded should these policies go unheeded or disregarded. While the loss of BYOD privileges is a common tactic, you should also seriously consider what is acceptable before an employee should be terminated. Once these distinctions have been made, share that information with your team when they opt into your BYOD implementation, so they are aware of the severity of such indiscretions.

A Bring Your Own Device policy is an essential piece of the modern office’s IT considerations and is something that we can help you out within much more detail. Find out what needs to be done by calling (516) 403-9001 today.