How to Keep Your IT Department Sane in the BYOD Age

It’s a bring-your-own-device (BYOD) business world; we’re just working in it.

Universally embraced across industries, the BYOD trend has spread like wildfire, with 74% of organizations using or planning to use the enterprise mobility method. Adopted by large and small businesses alike, BYOD enchants both employees and managers with its trademark ease of use as staff accesses company networks to complete daily tasks on their personal devices, resulting in an uptick in productivity.

Despite the love, there’s one department that loathes the very mention of BYOD: IT.

The concept of enterprise mobility isn’t new to IT. It’s been a headache for IT departments for decades. Yet BYOD brings new challenges, such as multiple devices connecting to the network or security risks due to lack of BYOD policy, as technology advances. IT is left scrambling to prepare and defend the organization’s infrastructure.

Many of us think we’re using safe practices on BYOD devices, while in reality, most aren’t. Connecting devices to the company’s network without antivirus software or accessing corporate email through an unencrypted server opens the door for corporate hackers or malicious software to make its way into the company infrastructure.

BYOD’s resulting increase of devices accessing the company network is another drain on the organization’s infrastructure and IT’s resources. Today’s phones and tablets can gain access as fast (and in some cases, faster) as traditional computers or laptops. Consequently, IT must scale the infrastructure’s capability to handle the extra load to operate efficiently.

While IT can stay ahead of potential issues with other company-issued devices, BYOD leaves them on the defensive. However, in today’s connected world, BYOD is quickly becoming a must for organizations. What’s the secret to keeping IT sane?

• Build in time before implementing BYOD for IT to reinforce and load test the organization’s infrastructure. Ensuring it can handle the projected increased load and protect against risks guarantees a smooth transition to BYOD in your enterprise mobility strategy.
• Collaborate with IT on the BYOD policy. Including security requirements, enterprise mobility best practices and mobile device management (MDM) enrollment requirements help mitigate potential risks.
• Already have a BYOD policy in place? Call a meeting with your IT department to discuss concerns and create an action plan to solve them.

Without IT’s support, the organization’s BYOD initiative can’t thrive. Resolving IT’s problems with this popular enterprise mobility trend allows your organization to become mobile while running efficiently and safely. It may be a BYOD business world, but with a prepared IT department and secured network, it can be yours.