The challenge of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
Jinfo Blog

By James Mullan

Abstract

If you're not familiar with the concept, BYOD refers to the idea of employees bringing their personal equipment (devices) into their place of work and using them to undertake work. For an organisation, one of the benefits is that they avoid the cost of having to buy a device for every employee and employees get a device they want to use.

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If you're not familiar with the concept, BYOD refers to the idea of employees bringing their personal equipment (devices) into their place of work and using them to undertake work. BYOD has become more popular in recent years because smartphones have become smarter, tablets and iPads have become the norm, and internet access, including free wi-fi, has become ubiquitous. Effectively this means that no matter where an individual is – on a train, plane or sitting in a café – there is the opportunity to undertake work using one of these devices.

BYOD has also become more popular because individuals expect the tools that they use in their personal lives to be available to them at work. So if an individual uses an iPad at home and finds it easy to use, why would they want to be restricted to using a Desktop PC at work if software exists that allows them to use their iPad?

For an organisation, one of the benefits is that they avoid the cost of having to buy a device for every employee and employees get a device they want to use. Allowing employees to bring their own devices also provides IT Departments with some flexibility around how they provide services and allows them to promote IT as a service rather than as just a department which provides tools. However BYOD does come with some unique challenges.

What are some of the challenges?

Perhaps the biggest challenge for any organisation considering allowing employees to use their own devices is security and the need to secure corporate data on an employee's personal device. For devices that are owned by an organisation, locking a device down that has been lost or stolen is relatively simple. Locking down a device that is owned by an employee is much more difficult, although there are a number of tools that will allow organisations to lock down employee-owned devices.

To highlight some of the issues associated with BYOD, CISCO reported in its 2011 Annual Security Report that 71% of college students think that company-issued devices like laptops and phones should be available for both work and play because “work time often blends with personal time". The report also highlighted 13 areas that are affected by the move to BYOD. These include what support will be provided to devices that aren't issued by organisations and how devices will be updated to ensure they're compliant with the organisation’s latest security protocols.

Another related issue is whether an employee is happy with potentially having limits imposed on what they can and can't do on their brand new iPhone or iPad. Organisations may ask individuals to download additional tools to help secure their devices and to check some of their device settings to try and make them less vulnerable. There may also be issues around licensing of applications, data protection issues and HR policies. As a result organisations will need to look closely at the policies that currently exist and update these as necessary.

What does the future hold?

In certainly looks like more organisations will allow their staff to bring their own devices. There are without a doubt some challenges with doing so, especially for IT teams and anyone involved within managing risk, but in my mind the opportunities of BYOD outweigh the challenges.

Other resources:

• CISCO outlines BYOD challenges and solutions
• How IT can keep user owned iPhones and iPads secure in the enterprise
• 10 myths of BYOD in the enterprise
• What Risk Does “BYOD” Pose To Your Business?

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