The IT Melting Pot!

• 67% of people are using personal devices in the workplace whether it’s officially sanctioned by the organization or not.
• 53% of organizations officially condone BYOD in some way, but only 22% of organizations support them through their IT department.
• Cost savings resulting from employees using their own PCs and mobile devices is often a driving factor to BYOD. Less than half of organizations provide any financial subsidy for users who supply their own equipment.
• A majority of companies are somewhat or very concerned about the risk of data breaches or intellectual property leaks.

BYOD does have distinct advantages. From the standpoint of the IT department, BYOD is generally seen as a cost-cutting measure because the burden of supplying the equipment is shifted to the employees. Some organizations subsidize BYOD policies with a per diem to offset the costs for users, but it still results in lower costs for the organization by relieving IT of its traditional role of maintenance and support.

Another advantage of BYOD is that individuals tend to upgrade and embrace new platforms and technologies much faster than businesses. The organization benefits from being able to take advantage of cutting edge tools and features without the pain of deploying new hardware to the entire company.

From the user’s perspective, BYOD means using devices and applications that are more familiar. Empowering users with the ability to choose which hardware and platforms they use creates more satisfied and productive workers. It also allows them to carry a single mobile device instead of one for work and another for personal use.

The list of smart personal devices capable of connecting to private and public networks is rapidly and constantly expanding. For chief information security officers (CISOs) and chief security officers (CSOs), managing an ever growing list of devices and applications isn’t a sustainable model. Some of the security professionals I have talked to are shifting their focus to managing the data instead of the devices. They have concluded that device security is only a proxy for data security; if they can’t effectively manage the security of the devices that employees bring to work, they will focus on managing the security of the data itself. I think the industry recognizes the importance of securing personal devices and are making steps toward better management controls in the future.

If you are interested in learning more about BYOD, I encourage you to read these blog posts recently published on the topic:

• Cloud Fundamentals Video Series: Bring Your Own Device and the Cloud
• Trust in Computing Research : 5 : Consumerization of IT
• Trust in Computing Research: 6: Consumerization of IT (Audience Breakdown)
• Trust in Computing Research: 7: Consumerization of IT (location Breakdown)
• Beginner’s Guide to BYOD (Bring Your Own Device)
• BYOD–is it Good, Bad or Ugly from the User Viewpoint?
• BYOD: Organizations Question Risk vs Benefit