Off late we’ve been covering a lot of ground on BYOD and how it could transform the way we work and how we use the ever-increasing range of devices for both personal and business use. In earlier posts, we did mention the need for a stringent, well defined, and a robust BYOD policy for enterprises or for your small businesses. It doesn’t look as rosy as it should have been. As expected, there are problems. Wide gaping holes in implementation are now seen. Let’s see how:
Policy or not, it’s MY device
It’s tough to convince employees to surrender personal devices when there’s a need for employees to do so (let’s say, about the time when they exit the company and data has to be taken off their iPads). It’s a foggy world out here with employees who have a right to their personal information and data and employers who have an equal right towards anything corporate stored in the same device. Food for thought: how does your enterprise policy handle this?
Making Policies is your Job; dodging them is ours
In a survey covering more than 4000 mobile and tablet users, conducted by Juniper Networks, a whopping 41% of all users surveyed circumvent company policies while using their personal devices at work. While some companies might even know this and relegate to the fact that it might not be harmful, we think: “Who can tell what happens next?”
Remote Wipe? Isn’t that dangerous for the company?
What if a company chooses to wipe data off an employee’s tablet or phone and personal data is wiped out accidentally? Who is culpable for that? Would corporate BYOD policies explicitly state who’s to be blamed in an event like that? Would the employees have a reason to go to court?
Rogue everything – employees, devices, and intentions
BYOD makes great sense, at the outset. Policies are great; they instill a sense of discipline and process. Employees can work more and be more productive this way. What about rogue employees? What about malicious software embedded in devices? If personal devices can be used at work, what is stopping employees from data theft, pilferage, unauthorized access or sharing, etc.?
Finally, there’s trouble when companies go sneaky. Tablets and phones that belong to senior management or middle management executives can be tapped (to prevent leakage). If it’s a personal device, where’s privacy? Companies now have access to employees’ social media accounts, any personal information stored on the phone or tablet, and much more.
As you can see, it’s a murky river out there while it continues to flow. While we are excited about BYOD and what it can do for businesses, we are also wary about the consequences.
What do you think? Is BYOD a vulnerable, shot in the dark?
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