The Ten Commandments of BYOD

Written By Edin Alic

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byodIt goes without saying that BYOD plays a huge role in today’s corporate world of unified communications. Employees have come to love and even expect it. If done correctly, BYOD can be an asset to management as well.

Thanks to MaaS360 and their article entitled The Ten Commandments of BYOD, it is easy to setup a successful BYOD system at any company.

  1. Create Thy Policy Before Procuring Technology 

    As with any other business decision, policy should come before technology. Developing a solid plan will ensure a smooth transition once the technology is purchased. Some questions to consider when creating your company policy:-  Devices – what kinds of devices will be allowed?
    –  Data Plans – will it be paid for by the company, user, or both?
    –  Compliance – does any data need protecting?
    –  Security – will passwords, antivirus, or other security items be required?
    –  Applications – what applications will be forbidden at work?
    –  Agreements – do you have an Acceptable Usage Agreement yet?
    –  Services – what networks can the employees access (WiFi, VPNs, etc.)?
    –  Privacy – how will company and personal data be protected?

  2. Seek the Flock’s Devices 

    It is important to know how many devices are on your network. There may be many more than you are aware if employees are bringing non-registered or new devices to work. You will need a tool that can detect all of the devices on the network at any time.

  3. Enrollment Shall Be Simple 

    Employees are only going to enroll if it is easy and simple to do so. The ideal would be to email a link that automatically creates an MDM profile and registers the device. Make this step quick and easy to encourage employees to comply.

  4. Thou Shalt Configure Devices Over-the-Air 

    Along those same lines, configuration should be done over-the-air so that neither employees nor IT have to worry about going to a help desk.

  5. Give Thy Users Self-Service 

    Employees should be able to do as much themselves as possible to save time for themselves and IT. Things like forgotten passwords, backups, or device wipes should be easy to perform by the user.

  6. Hold Sacred Personal Information 

    Not only the company data needs to be protected – personal user data should be protected as well. The company needs to be clear on what they can and cannot access. Things like personal email, text messages, photos, and call records are private and should be hidden from the company.

  7. Part the Seas of Corporate and Personal Data 

    The easiest way to comply with the previous rule is to separate corporate and personal data completely. The company should have complete access to corporate applications but no access to personal applications.

  8. Manage Thy Data Usage 

    Whether it will be paid by the company or the user, data usage should be monitored. You may want to send alerts when a limit or threshold is reached. Devices should be configured to automatically use Wi-Fi whenever available.

  9. Monitor Thy Flock – Herd Automatically 

    All devices should be constantly monitored to prevent any security breaches or mishaps. For example, a device being jailbroken leads to compromised security. The company can also monitor productivity and warn employees that are spending too much time on personal applications at work.

  10. Drink from the Fountain of ROI 

    Compare the corporate-owned strategy versus the BYOD strategy. Think about things like the cost of devices, including warranty replacements and inevitable upgrades. Also consider data packages and IT support. BYOD will likely save money and time for the company in the long run.

In conclusion, BYOD is a big part of business today and likely is not going anywhere anytime soon. But this can be a good thing for company management and employees alike if they follow the steps from MaaS360 in The Ten Commandments of BYOD.