The global coronavirus pandemic has proven a challenge for modern business, forcing them to rethink their existing strategies, to review their policies and embrace remote working. As part of this journey, many organisations have had to allow their employees to work from home – either using their own personal devices or using company-issued equipment.
Similarly, these workers are being given remote access to company networks or they are transmitting corporate data and information using their own personal networks at home. It may seem simple enough to allow your teams to do what they would do in the office, at home but the potential security implications are massive. If your employees are working remotely, it’s important that you understood and mitigate these risks.
We’ve written a lot about bring-your-own-device (BYOD) in the past, from offering advice around developing the right BYOD policies to comparing different mobile deployment strategies. And with the world at somewhat of a standstill due to the coronavirus pandemic, the BYOD conversation is especially relevant. Allowing staff to use their personal devices to complete work activities has been shown to increase productivity but it is important that IT teams pay close attention to what everyone is doing to prevent the misuse/loss of corporate data. Getting this right comes down to having clear, comprehensive BYOD policies.
Below, we’ve outlined a few tips to help you manage the world of remote working and set up best practices to keep your business safe today and into the future.
- Be clear: All the ins and outs of your BYOD strategy must be documented and communicated in plain enough language so that everyone understands what is expected of them.
- Be flexible: We are all in unchartered territory. Constraints are essential but it’s important to not hamper productivity or frustrate your teams by making your policies too restrictive.
- Be proactive: Knowledge is power. Provide your users with the necessary guidelines for use and offer data saving pointers so that they can manage their usage as efficiently as possible.
- Be vigilant: When everyone is working from different locations it is tricky to keep track of everything. And it is inevitable that some will try to bend the rules. Realising the true benefits of BYOD demands that you monitor enrolled devices to minimise non-compliance.
In a world gripped by COVID-19, BYOD is more important than ever before. Want advice around how to develop a BYOD strategy that works for your business? We can help. Just complete the form below and we’ll be in touch.