How to Make BYOD Work for Your Business!

Know the Risks & Reap the Rewards!

Is your company, like several others in today’s constantly evolving technology age, ready to make a BYOD (Bring Your Own Devices) policy part of your common practice? The most important step to successfully implementing BYOD for your business is to understand the potential risks and recompense when implementing this strategy. Here are some steps that should prove successful when starting a BYOD initiative.

Protect Important Data

Allowing workers to access sensitive information and company data with their personal devices can potentially lead to some obvious problems. It’s important to identify all regulated data and which data will be accessed from, stored on, or passed through BYOD devices. Your company can then create a strategy to best protect sensitive data and ensure workers on BYOD devices comply with limitations.

Monitor and Control Network Access

Always prevent employees from accessing data on any unsecured, unapproved or jail broken devices. In addition, set up ways to monitor and track the access given and employ controls based on an employee’s identity, device type, and time of access.

Keep Security Tight

Allowing the use of devices that come and go from a workspace could mean losing more control of your company’s sensitive data and information. To ensure this doesn’t become an issue, set in place extra security measures for employee-owned devices. Devices should require passwords for access, especially if they contain sensitive company information. Smart card readers or fingerprint readers are also helpful in preventing data breaches in the case of lost or stolen devices.

Implement Compliant Apps

The security of a device brought into the workplace won’t be much help if the apps are not compliant with your office standards. Luckily, this can be quite easy to asses with a few simple questions:

• Are the devices storing sensitive information?
• Does a secure web session expire in the same amount of time on the device as it would on a corporate desktop?
• Can the multifactor authentication that is employed on corporate applications be used on the device?

Train Your Staff

Most important to ensure the implementing of BYOD goes smoothly in your workplace is confirming that you and your employees are all on the same page. It’s vital that they understand the importance of following regulations and that there are consequences for failure to comply. Employees must be especially sensitive to the potential for breaches while outside the corporate setting – ongoing education and check-ins are essential.

Integrating a BYOD policy can be extremely rewarding for both employees and business. In order to make it work, though, it’s imperative that everyone involved takes the necessary steps to protect their devices and make sure your company’s sensitive data is kept safe. For more information on how to successfully implement BYOD into your business, contact CTECH Consulting Group at info@ctechgroup.net or reach out to us directly by phone at (403) 457-1478.

Written by Carl Fransen

posted on January 22, 2015

Carl Fransen

My passion is to make my mark on the world in a positive and lasting way. I want to set an example for my son that his father can compete with integrity in today’s world, be very successful, and leave the world a better place for him.

Combining my technical/business-based education with a long career steadily progressing up the corporate ladder, I decided to build a company that held true to my values. So, I founded and designed the next generation of IT support firm: CTECH Consulting Group Inc. We are a completely automated, cloud-based IT company designed to compete against any other IT firm without the overhead. We promote a lifestyle to all our staff where they can work anywhere, at any time, access any information on any device that is relevant to their job, and collaborate with anyone they want to.