The legendary U2 album “The Joshua Tree” celebrated its 30th Year in March this Year, twenty years before the formation of Aspira! The Windmill Lane recording studio was used in the production of the album, which is around the corner from the new Aspira Docklands building in Dublin. It is interesting to see the influence that this seminal work has had, both consciously and subconsciously…
Mobile devices in the workplace have rocked the World of many IT leaders. It’s as if U2 played from the office rooftop ordering all the end users you support to buy as many devices as possible from the Streets With No Name and connect them to corporate services.
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) was born and employees Followed in the masse like there was No Line On The Horizon. However, it’s not all Bad. There’s no point in Running To Stand Still or pretending it isn’t happening or saying “we don’t allow our employees do that.”
The truth is, it’s Out Of Control, they’re doing it already and will continue to inject noncompliant devices into your network With or Without Your permission. ONE recent Gartner survey suggested that currently, most employees are eligible to use their own equipment with employee data on board.
This is the Elevation of An Electrical Storm: how will you support workforce Desire to use personal apps and devices while allowing them to be productive in a secure environment that protects corporate data? Here are eight tracks to try out:
- Craft Policies, It’s Even Better Than The Real Thing.
- Evaluate devices connecting to your network – don’t leave yourself wondering if I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.
- Authenticate devices and apply user acceptance signoff.
- Security, corporate data protection, and compliance are shared responsibilities. There is no chance of reducing risk without cooperation. A self-service portal can help users understand why they may be out of compliance – Sometimes You Can’t Make It On Your Own
- Communicate the privacy policy to users and make it clear what data you can and cannot collect from their mobile devices
- Isolate personal data from corporate data – North and South of the River.
- Manage data usage on subsidized plans
- Monitor devices continuously for compliance to policies
Surrender:
BYOD is an emerging best practice for giving employees the freedom to work on their own devices while relieving IT’s significant financial and management burdens. However, BYOD will never deliver on these promises of streamlined management and cost savings without a well-written policy and a robust management platform.
Stranger In A Strange Land:
Your business isn’t limited to your own systems. Thanks to access to cloud services we can communicate with customers, share files, collaborate, video conference and more. While these cloud services increase capabilities with good value for money, its important not to forget that every connection that reaches out from your network may open the door for someone to reach in.
It’s a Beautiful Day!
Aspira is celebrating its 10th anniversary in May this Year and will be announcing the opening of Aspira Docklands building beside Windmill Lane. It’s The Sweetest Thing!
Author: Luca Santos, Aspira IT Operations