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5 Considerations for a Successful BYOD Program Start

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Implementing a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program sounds like a win for everyone: your employees get to use the device they already know and like, and your company is not having to purchase all of those devices. It turns out that a BYOD program, while overall beneficial, comes with some inherent risk.

Some of that risk is related to security. Your employees may be accessing unsecured Wi-Fi or leaving their devices logged in and unattended. They may download apps that aren’t approved.

There are also privacy concerns. You need to be able to monitor devices in order to keep your network safe, but your employees are entitled to know what types of information are being collected from their devices.

Just like the overall lines between work and personal lives, the lines are particularly blurry when it comes to a BYOD program. How do you develop a BYOD policy that allows for a secure program that is also satisfactory for employees? Here are five considerations to include in your planning:

Executive Buy-In: As with any company-wide program, you’ll want extensive support for your BYOD implementation. When your leadership is engaged in the decision-making, they will understand the need for certain tools, such as Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions and the amount of time you’ll need to invest in creating your BYOD policy.

Develop a Security Policy: Your team will need to work through extensive security items, such as acceptable uses, program restrictions, user responsibilities and more. You’ll also have to determine what consequences will be in place in the event an employee violates any security policies.

Develop a Privacy Policy: Determine what you will need to monitor and clearly communicate it to your employees. If you will need access to applications that are for personal use, be straightforward about the necessity of accessing that app and how the information will be used. Design the consent forms you’ll require employees to sign for your BYOD policy.

Plan for Unusual Circumstances: How will you handle an employee that takes a leave of absence or is on maternity leave? You will need a policy to handle misconduct with a device, whether it occurs during office hours or off the clock. Determine what happens to a device when an employee resigns or is terminated.

Plan for Problems: This may be the most important consideration because you have to assume that there will be terminations, resignations, security breaches and privacy issues. It’s not that you hope for these things to happen, but you recognize the inevitable occurrences that are likely to happen and you mitigate that risk as much as possible.

If your company is considering moving to a BYOD program, contact us at Cloud Source. We will help you create an implementation plan, customized to fit your needs and mitigate risks.

What to Look for in Mobile Device Management in 2023

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Cyber security is an ever-evolving landscape. Your data and systems should be carefully monitored, but there are always new threats changing how different areas of security must be prioritized. The following information should be helpful as you take charge of your security, including your mobile device management.

It can be challenging to make accurate predictions about enterprise security, but some of the emerging trends are due to the increased focus on work-from-anywhere technology. For example, as most companies have migrated at least some workloads to the cloud and are accessing them via a wide variety of devices, boundaries need to be set so that you’re as safe from cyber criminals as possible while equipping your employees for remote work.

Becoming More Aware

Even if your security team is proactive in addressing potential threats, it’s important to prioritize a culture of cyber security awareness. Establishing this culture requires educating everyone on the risks to the company and their individual positions, such as email phishing and the behaviors that lead to unintentional loss of company data or infiltration of various harmful viruses.

Everyone should be accountable for their actions, whether on-site or while remotely engaging with the network. If some of your employees are remote or if you have a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) program or company-owned phones and other mobile devices, security education should involve best practices regarding mobile device management.

Endpoint Management

Hackers know that companies are struggling to monitor and catalog the ever-increasing number of endpoints on their networks. They exploit endpoints to launch attacks that include ransomware and malware. The problem for most companies is that there are now so many devices connected to their networks that managing endpoints is exceedingly difficult, particularly in offices where there are fleets of Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

Implementing the right solutions, which include SaaS and physical tech, can mean the difference between disaster and successful, proactive prevention. Ensure you have the right solutions by outsourcing to an expert who assesses your workflow and your current technology to recommend the best security technology for your specific priorities.

At Cloud Source, we know finding the right solutions can be difficult for many companies, even those equipped with security experts. There are many products on the market today, and it’s our business to know what will be the best fit for your company. Whether it’s endpoint security or mobile device management solutions, Cloud Source will assist you in leveraging the right technology for your needs. Contact us, and let’s discuss a plan for securing your data and systems.

Meeting the Infrastructure Demands of Today’s Business Model

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Many enterprises are working with extensive network hardware, feeling strangled by the complexity of the hardware life cycle and the ways it impacts their infrastructure. Most eagerly look forward to the day they can make a move to adopt a virtual network solution and exchange cumbersome hardware for devices that are flexible and designed to grow with changing business needs.

When you talk with a decision maker in enterprise IT, their wish list for a solution is long and all-encompassing. They want scalability, lowered costs, flexibility, and increased visibility. They also want to have bandwidth on demand, erasing the ongoing challenge of effectively managing today’s bring your own device (BYOD) business culture. While this picture of the perfect infrastructure solution for networking may seem a bit pie-in-the-sky, the solutions are not that far off in the future.

The need for virtual networks is geographically-driven. Enterprises are facing multiple changes that demand a virtual network that is flexible and scalable. Remote employees comprise increasingly bigger percentages of a company’s workforce and are impacting network needs across industries. In addition, enterprises are embracing strategies that prioritize local connections with customers.

As a result, enterprises need an infrastructure solution that allows them to have flexible, scalable network access. When a new branch is opened, it’s necessary to get it online as quickly as possible and have central control and visibility. Options like Network Function Virtualization and Software Defined Networking will enable enterprises to scale up or down and offer services on demand.

The benefits of virtual network infrastructure: As enterprises incorporate virtual technology into their networks, they’ll experience important, measurable benefits:

  • Scalability that allows the enterprise to only purchase the network access they require at a given time. Subscriptions are sold in a pay-as-you-go model that allows for easy flexibility.
  • Hardware flexibility will give enterprises the ability to use a single device to address multiple infrastructure requirements.
  • Increased visibility in a central location that allows enterprise IT personnel to view branch locations and various types of internet traffic.
  • Prioritization of mission-critical traffic will provide a way to distinguish between different types of data and other information traveling over the network.

At Cloud Source, we leverage our unique insights and extensive expertise to build customized telecommunications solutions for our clients. Contact us today to learn how we can build a solution for you.

Implementing a Successful BYOD Program: Challenges and Solutions

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BYODPersonal devices have become ubiquitous, with the majority of the population having at least one device that can access the internet. Many businesses are taking advantage of this to implement bring your own device (BYOD) policies, allowing their employees to work — in-house or remotely — with their own devices. This can mean a reduction in IT costs and CapEx, while also ensuring that employees are always able to be contacted. However, there are a number of security risks that come with a BYOD program, including:

  • Data loss
  • Malware
  • Unauthorized access
  • Unsafe applications

Data Loss

Loss of data is the biggest priority for businesses with a BYOD program, according to 72% of respondents to Crowd Research Partners’ BYOD & Mobile Security 2016 Spotlight Report. Many companies deal with sensitive data for their clients, making this a top priority for IT departments. It is imperative that the IT department take personal devices into account and work to keep them as secure as possible.

Malware

A single infected device can compromise a business’s entire network, if given the access. Any device registered to a BYOD program should be kept up to date with its firewall, OS, and antivirus. The best way for a business to ensure this is to have policies and procedures in place that all employees are trained on and expected to adhere to. It is also important to have a VPN standing between the device and the network itself, to protect the network by ensuring that all transmitted data is secure and encrypted.

Unauthorized Access

The benefit of employees using their own devices is that they always have access to the network — but the drawback is that they always have access to the network. This means that if a device is lost or stolen, whoever has it next will also be able to connect to the network. PINs or passwords can help keep unauthorized users out, and devices should be registered with the IT department so they can be flagged as soon as they go missing.

Unsafe Applications

There are thousands of apps available for download, not all of which are from legitimate distributors. Like malware, apps can cause serious security breaches, especially in more vulnerable devices like mobile phones and tablets. A strong policy in place will help keep employees from downloading harmful apps, and businesses can also use virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) and virtual switching instance (VSI) environments to separate trusted traffic from untrusted.

Educated employees are the best defense against an unsuccessful BYOD program. Businesses should also monitor network activity and use guardian programs that can intelligently adapt to possible threats. This will ensure that the program is a success and allow the business the flexibility that BYOD can bring.

The Mobile Workplace: Benefits, Issues, and Solutions

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Mobile WorkforceTechnology is everywhere, bringing with it a shift towards the mobile. According to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index, by 2020 more people will be using mobile than use desktops. Businesses can take advantage of this by leveraging the use of mobile devices to improve and increase productivity and flexibility.

Ways to Use Mobile

Mobile allows great flexibility in the workplace, including through the use of:

  • Bring your own device (BYOD) policies
  • Cloud-based telephony
  • Cloud networks
  • Mobile apps, both in-house and from outside sources

The Benefits of a Mobile Workplace

Any business interested in making the move to a more mobile workforce needs to know how this shift will benefit the organization. The biggest benefit is flexibility, which leads to an increase in productivity. Employees using mobile devices, especially their own, have the flexibility to connect to the network and complete their work no matter where they are, whether that’s at the office, at home, or out meeting with clients.

Mobile also benefits clients and other outside partners who can use their own devices to access the business’s network. Visitors to the office can also hotdesk rather than having to be set up to use their own station, improving their efficiency during their visit.

Possible Issues

Security is the biggest issue facing businesses looking to move to a mobile workplace. While a BYOD policy improves productivity, it also means that the business can’t ensure that all devices are set to the same security measures and standards. If a network isn’t safeguarded properly, cybercriminals can take advantage of outdated OSes to gain access.

Fortunately, there are two major strategies to maintain a mobile workplace without sacrificing security: replacing BYOD with a company-owned, personally-enabled (COPE) policy, or ensuring that employees receive proper training to keep their devices updated and secure.

Using COPE

Using COPE instead of BYOD means the business has more control over the devices employees use. While these devices are owned by the company, they are also enabled for the employee to use as a personal device, which allows for standardization and the ability for the business to remotely wipe the device. However, there is a small drawback in that the business will also need to ensure they purchase a device for each mobile employee.

Using BYOD

For companies who choose to go with BYOD, the first step is always research and planning. The three major aspects to consider are:

  • Cloud hosting: Allowing employees to access the network through a single portal
  • Customer continuity: Allowing customers to contact employees no matter where they are through the use of call routing capabilities
  • Network capacity: Ensuring that the network can handle increased traffic without dropping the connection

A mobile workplace can bring great benefits to a business that puts the research into it and ensures support for employees while maintaining security of the network. As mobile and the cloud become more ubiquitous, businesses will need to consider their mobile options in order to increase productivity and remain competitive.

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328 S. Jefferson St. Suite 603
Chicago, IL 60661
Ph: 312.753.7880
E: info@CloudSourceServices.com

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