In today’s world of dynamic corporate networks and ever-developing security threats, traditional network security can be imagined as an ancient castle. In this modern connected world, those ancient structures are crumbling.

Employee satisfaction and productivity comes up again in research as a reason to embrace BYOD.

Ian Parker, Technical Consultant at Imtech ICT UK tackles the security and management challenges businesses are facing when it comes to their BYOD strategy and provides some key insights as to how to fight off the internet bad guys.

Ian is responsible for Technical Design, Implementation, Consultancy and Training for all Technical Projects and Opportunities at Imtech ICT UK.

So the first thing to understand is what is BYOD…

Bring your own device (BYOD), Choose Your Own Device (CYOD), Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT), Bring Your Own Phone (BYOP) or Bring Your Own PC (BYOPC) – whatever you choose to call it, BYOD, (like the word security), is a term that has different connotations depending on who you talk to.

Employees now have access to loads of affordable
next generation tablets and smartphones that are essentially whizz-bang PC’s  in a small, transportable format. From experience,  we all know that these devices are as essential to us as carrying a handbag or a wallet – ever left your phone at home and felt your right arm had been cut off? Ironically, my wife says my iPad is my “manbag” as it very rarely leaves my side, at work or at home. Right, you get the idea. 

Managing the business challenges
So if you are in a company that has decided to embrace BYOD and allow employees to use their newest gadget/device as a piece of work equipment,  you will not be surprised to face a number of business challenges in trying to agree on how to manage them.  According to Gartner , businesses face 3 main challenges when it comes to BYOD.