In our always-connected world, more and more people are using their mobile devices every chance they get. No longer is a mobile device solely for personal use. Software such as ActiveSync by Microsoft is making it easier than ever to allow users to access work email no matter where they are. And many people are following the enterprise mobility trends of bringing their own device to work. Bring your own device (BYOD for short) policies are starting to become commonplace in many enterprise settings. And it is estimated that by 2015 55 percent of all smartphones used in businesses will be employee-owned. But these enterprise mobility trends raise their own enterprise mobility challenges. Here are some of the benefits and risks of enterprise mobility solutions and BYOD policies.
Enterprise mobile solutions and BYOD policies can provide significant benefits to both employers and employees. Employers can save money that they would normally have to invest in employee equipment. The savings include the cost of the devices themselves, as well as the cost of maintenance and data plans. Most workers are willingly going to purchase their own mobile devices and prefer them over anything that a company would provide. This makes all the costs associated with the device personal. Personal devices are also usually more cutting-edge, allowing the company to benefit from the latest hardware and software. And if a cloud-based mobile device management solution is used, it will be able to automatically and immediately support new mobile operating systems and upgrades.
Enterprise mobility trends in which employees prefer to use their own mobile devices can lead to increased productivity as well. Employees are more comfortable with their own devices, and have become experts at using them. This means there is zero learning curve associated with the device, unlike how it might be with a company-issued mobile device. Your employees will be much more satisfied that they are allowed to use their own devices, and won’t have to carry multiple devices around with them.
But as with most emerging enterprise mobility trends, there are some significant risks to embracing BYOD policies. From incompatible devices to privacy concerns regarding sensitive data, enterprise mobility management poses many issues. Personal devices may simply not work with the existing network setup of the business for a variety reasons, making workers frustrated by a number of incompatibility issues.
But security is one of the biggest risks of allowing employees to use their own personal mobile devices. One of the biggest security concerns involves an employee losing their phone. Any disreputable person could grab it and have access to any unsecured information. This is why it’s essential to have a mobile device management security system in place. This will allow company data to be wiped from the phone in the event that an employee loses their mobile device. However, only 9 percent of companies actually have a policy in place to wipe company data while maintaining any personal data. Check out this website for more: www.maas360.com