Bob Milliken

By Bob Milliken

Bob Milliken
Bob Milliken

Heard the expression “BYOD” recently? The age of BYOD (bring your own device) to work is upon us. More and more companies are letting or even asking their employees to bring their phones, iPads, Tablets or laptops to work. There are obvious benefits, but also dangers that may not be as obvious. Read on to find out what they are.
You may have noticed more and more of your employees or colleagues are bringing their own computing devices to work — be it their mobile phone, tablet, or laptop. Almost everyone I know, including my under 12 granddaughters has a mobile device of some kind, and this “consumerization” of IT is being increasingly felt in the workplace. With the wide availability of cheap but powerful mobile devices and online services, a growing number of people are being exposed to the latest technology at home first—adopting them at a rate faster than most small businesses are able to manage.
This trend, plus the increasing sophistication of young workers today and their frustration with the tools available to them at the office, is pushing small businesses to adopt a Mobile Device Policy at work. This new generation of workers has always used their personal devices in school, and they have never been without them. So they see it as a step backward when they enter the workforce and get a heavy computer or antiquated smartphone. According to research by technology analyst group Gartner, end users will soon be responsible for 50 percent of business IT procurement decisions—ultimately bringing and running their own systems on company networks. Meanwhile, according to management consultants Accenture, approximately one-third of today’s younger generation of workers (a group called “millenials”) not only wants to use the computer of their choice at work, but also wants control of the applications they use. However, there are inherent security risks that come with unrestricted access to corporate networks, cloud based services and private use.
As a small business owner, your data is critical to your business. Centralized asset management, regular audits, vulnerability assessment, remote monitoring and management, patch management and backup can all help make BYOD computing safe and facilitate the accommodation of new machines. However, to ensure your company can effectively handle all the new devices employees are using for work, it makes sense to develop a mobile device policy.
Please feel free to contact by email for your complimentary copy of our Mobile Device policy that you can use to build your own. It is intended only as a guideline for organizations looking to implement or update their mobile device security policy.
If you still have questions about using mobile devices in your business, don’t hesitate to give us a call and we will help you build your Mobile Device Policy and design an effective mobile strategy.
Your comments are appreciated – ComputerCents@CascadiaSystemsGroup.com
Bob Milliken is the president of Cascadia Systems Group. Connect with Bob at TheITguy@CascadiaSystemsGroup.com, or give us a call – 604.270.1730. Your comments are appreciated – ComputerCents@CascadiaSystemsGroup.com