Managing the BYOD Chaos
The evolution in mobile technology has changed the way we work. Gone are the days when work was only done on personal computers. Even laptops have slowly paved way to trendy mobile phones and tablets. With a new and sophisticated device hitting the market on a daily basis with better technological supremacy, employees are not just using them to communicate but largely to conduct work as well. BYOD, bring-your-own device is a trend which is becoming the norm of the day. Surprised? Well, don’t be. A recent research report from Forrester shows, organizations in Europe and North America are taking this trend quite seriously with 64% of respondents identifying providing more mobility support for employees as a top priority. Companies that allow employees to use their personal devices on the corporate network feel that it’s a trend which has increased employee productivity thereby increasing job satisfaction and retention and also drastic reduction in the cost they have to bear towards hardware. Employees are satisfied as they can access work from devices familiar to them. Organizations are smiling at the money they have saved by shifting the hardware responsibility to the user.
But all this consumerization of IT is also causing headache for enterprises. Gartner reports that BYOD is surely a concern when it comes to security and top enterprises are a worried lot.
- Potential for loss of confidential information via personal devices
- Legal issues and regulatory compliance risks
- Introduction of malware threats
- Management burden associated with supporting diverse device types
- Ensuring user authentication, security, and encryption
- Policy formulation and enforcement
- Monitoring and management of Wi-Fi access points
- Network bandwidth monitoring
If you’re an IT Admin, you ought to prepare yourself to tackle the BYOD trend. With the number of unrecognized devices multiplying on the network daily, it’s quite important to have complete control over them to proactively address any security risk arising via suspicious rouge devices. Sanjay Castelino, VP, Market Leader Network Management Business at SolarWinds, recently published an article, Managing the BYOD Chaos with Network and Security Information Monitoring and Management, in which he laid out a number of areas an IT pro can focus on to manage the BYOD chaos.
- Network Traffic Analysis
- IP Infrastructure Management
- User Device Tracking and Switch Port Monitoring
- Security Information Event Management
By creating and enforcing the right policy for your organization, monitoring usage and access, and implementing intelligent and advanced security solutions, BYOD can substantially benefit the likes of businesses and employees in developing a better, more productive work environment. Try the interactive online demo of SolarWinds NetFlow Traffic Analyzer, a comprehensive network traffic monitor that will help you monitor traffic and bandwidth utilization across your enterprise network.
