It’s difficult to imagine employees not bringing their own device to work in this mobile-friendly era. Some might even bring two or three. While these devices are for personal use, they’re also being implemented to tackle day-to-day tasks, which is why most employers have no problem with the bring your own device (BYOD) revolution. With the growth of BYOD across industries, it is critical for all businesses to establish a safety policy to protect important data.

Securing the Environment

The concept of BYOD has been around since the early 2000s, but it exploded with the Blackberry and to a larger degree with each release of the newest version of the iPhone. Now, the market is full with smartphone choices from many manufacturers, and employees have taken advantage of that. But company data is often on these devices, and your data is your lifeblood. When it becomes compromised, you’re at risk.

For this reason, your BYOD policy should include mobile device management solutions, which offer security features that can monitor and manage the devices.

Phones and tablets are notoriously lost or stolen (to the tune of 70-plus million per year), and if they get into the wrong hands, it can hurt your company. Fortunately, mobile device management solutions allow you to remotely erase data on the device, keeping you secure.

Yet another approach is to require employees to use the cloud to store data. Using multi-factor authentication to gain entry to the cloud-resourced databank, employees who lose their device or have it stolen won’t run the risk of leaking company information.

Tips for Building a BYOD Policy

Depending on what mobile security solutions you adopt, you might have to limit the device brands that employees can bring to work, using only those that are compatible with your solutions. The policy should clearly outline exactly what type of device can be brought in and which ones will never be allowed access to the network.

The policy should clearly state how employees who abuse it will be held accountable. All employees should know exactly what they are liable for. When employees leave the company, the device is theirs to take with them, but you need to have written in your policy how you will go about getting any work-sensitive data off the device before they take their final steps out the door.

Keeping up with technology innovations can be difficult, but at Diversified Technology Group, we help our clients determine which solutions will meet their business needs. With more than 20 years of telecom and IT experience, we’re experts in assisting companies in meeting the BYOD demands. Contact us and let’s talk about how we can help your organization.