Creating a BYOD policy for your organization can be daunting and complex, particularly if you are unsure where to start or what steps to take. Unfortunately, this issue has become one of the major concerns for many clients over the past two years.
BYOD is a policy allowing employees to use their laptops, tablets, and smartphones to access company information and applications while at work. This policy gives employees more flexibility to work from their preferred devices and increases productivity. Create an effective BYOD policy with Managed IT Services Bellevue experts.
This article will explore the importance of the BYOD policy for businesses and the main steps to creating a successful BYOD policy.
Table of Contents
7 Steps to Create a Successful BYOD Policy
1. Define and Align Your BYOD Goals
To develop a successful BYOD strategy, defining clear objectives that align with your organization’s overall strategic goals is essential. A key factor in achieving this is ensuring that your BYOD goals balance enablement, empowerment, security, and governance.
Doing so ensures that your BYOD strategy is tied to your business objectives, increasing the likelihood of success. Creating a viable BYOD strategy requires thoroughly understanding your organization’s needs and goals and a commitment to implementing a plan that meets both.
2. Keep Track of Employees’ Devices
It is essential to require employees to register their devices with the company, including new hires and existing employees who purchase a new phone or tablet while employed. However, it’s crucial to have a comprehensive strategy to revoke access for those who leave the company.
With the BYOD policy, retrieving a former employee’s company device is insufficient. Therefore, you must implement a clearing process to ensure their personal devices no longer have access to company data and resources. This is a critical step in protecting sensitive information and maintaining data security.
3. Look to the Cloud
Cloud storage provides an additional layer of security for your essential data. By storing your files, images, and documents on secure servers, you can prevent them from being stored on personal smartphones. With cloud-based storage, you can ensure your files are safe in a secure environment with password-protected access for added security. In addition, by accessing the cloud through an app on your devices, you can easily separate your work and personal files, keeping both organized and secure.
Logging into the cloud before working on professional files helps create a clear boundary between work and personal life. This simple step allows employees to shift their mindset quickly and focus entirely on work tasks. Once they log off, they can switch back to using their phone for personal purposes, ensuring they maintain a healthy work-life balance.
4. Control the Network Bandwidth
Optimizing network bandwidth for mobile devices can be achieved similarly to wired devices. However, a few options exist when deciding the best approach. One option is a proxy server to restrict access to bandwidth-intensive websites such as social media and video streaming sites.
Alternatively, router-based traffic shaping can be used to manage bandwidth usage. Finally, it’s worth noting that as mobile devices typically connect through Wi-Fi, expanding enterprise infrastructure in this area may be necessary.
5. Set Up a Data Usage Monitoring Process
To ensure smooth data management in Bring Your Own Device scenarios where data usage is high, it’s crucial to take specific steps. For instance, if you have employees who frequently travel, such as managers and sales staff, they may exceed their personal data plan. To tackle this issue, there are two approaches that you can consider. Firstly, you can encourage employees to connect to Wi-Fi networks as much as possible to minimize data usage.
Secondly, you can implement a reimbursement process wherein employees can make claims for data charges that exceed their usual limit. It will help employees feel assured and motivated while ensuring the company’s data management remains efficient.
6. Plan for Security Incidents
Personal devices are susceptible to getting lost, stolen, or damaged, which can put business data at risk. Therefore, planning for such scenarios is crucial to ensure the safety of your business data. To achieve this, educating your staff members about the security measures and company policies regarding strong password protection, limited use of business outlets and resources, and more is essential. By doing so, you can take proactive steps to safeguard your business data and minimize the risks associated with personal device usage.
To ensure the safety and privacy of sensitive information, it’s crucial to specify the security protocols when the device is idle for a certain period or when multiple failed login attempts occur. Additionally, it’s necessary to outline the procedures for wiping all data in case of theft, loss of the device, or termination of employment. By clearly communicating these security measures, all users will be aware of the actions to take in the event of a security breach, and the organization can maintain a secure and protected environment.
7. Abide by Compliance Mandates
When implementing a BYOD policy, it’s crucial to keep industry-specific compliance regulations in mind. Even if employees use their personal devices, the company must ensure that all data is protected. This includes understanding the potential liability associated with compromised data.
To plan a successful BYOD strategy, it’s essential to seek legal advice for liability issues and privacy concerns. Doing so ensures that your BYOD policy aligns with legal requirements and provides the best protection for your company’s sensitive information.
Final Words
A Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy can offer more than just a boost in employee productivity. It can also be a cost-effective solution for companies. By allowing employees to use their own devices for work, employers may save on expenses that would otherwise be spent on purchasing devices. This means that companies can avoid the cost of buying appliances for their sales team or other employees, resulting in significant savings.
Implementing a BYOD policy can be challenging, but staying ahead of the curve is essential as technology advances. With the proper security measures in place and the assistance of an IT professional, your company can confidently embrace BYOD without worry.