NO ESCAPE FROM BYOD

 Consequently, IT departments at small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) throughout the Middle East, and indeed all over the world, are facing the challenge of how to integrate these devices safely into their business.

 The dilemma SMBs face is how to manage this ever changing array of devices that are showing up on their networks, while keeping their valuable company data safe. Understandably, many of these organizations are unsure how to create practical and effective mobile and BYOD (bring your own device) policies, while satisfying the communications needs of their employees.

 For many of these organizations, the answer has simply been to refuse to allow requests for BYOD. Without the security licenses to properly protect all the devices, many IT departmentshave opted for the easiest option of refusing to allow different devices at access their networks.

 However, pressure has been increasing as the devices have become more popular, and it has become evident that with or without permission, many personal devices are being used at access company information without their consent and, worse still, without security.

 It’s clear that mobile devices in the workplace are becoming the rule, not the exception, andIT departments need to address the need to secure these devices with mobile devicemanagement (MDM) that is easy to deploy and straight forward to manage. But with mobile devices constantly changing and evolving, for IT departments it can mean countless hours spent provisioning, securing, locating, locking and updating these devices.

 We believe MDM should give you the ability to manage countless devices with a single solution, giving IT departments more time to address all of those other requests that were never in the job description. Simple to deploy mobile device management and security, covering all devices, will keep employees happy and productive, minimizing the workload for IT, and giving managers confidence that the company’s data is protected. So whatever the choice of device – iOS, Android, Windows Phone – the company’s valuable data will be protected.

 But this throws up another issue in that employees are constantly acquiring new smartphones,tablets and other devices, which they may want to use for work purposes. The speed with which new and updated mobile devices – and operating systems – are hitting the market is impressive, as is the desire of many people to have the latest upgrade. You only have to look at the speed with which the recent iOS7 update was adopted by users to see the challenge faced by IT departments in keeping pace with the rate of change of devices. So if employees are to be allowed to add new, even multiple devices to the network whenever they wish, IT won’t be able to plan for security licensing expenses.To help combat this, organizations need to look for MDM solutions that secure individuals, rather than individual devices. By this, I mean offering a single license for each employee that will protect all devices. This way, any new device is automatically able to be secured and employees won’t have to sneak their new devices on to the network because there aren’t any security licenses left.

 SMB businesses everywhere are looking for a simple, secure way to enable employees to use mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads, Android and Windows Phones, to get work done. Thisis the challenge of BYOD, but with the right polices and mobile device management solution in place, BYOD can create tremendous opportunities for businesses to ensure their employeesnot only remain productive but also increase their productivity