BYOD 101: Avoiding BYOD pitfalls

BYOD: One size does not fit all

Something inherent in the idea of BYOD, but something that organisations often go wrong on, Schiphof says, is that one size does not fit all. "Any organisation has bunch of standard desktops and a bunch of standard laptops in the old days before BYOD and that's all nailed down all clearly defined. If you do a BYOD policy it's almost impossible to define all the equipment that's in there…

"What we often find is that [organisations] think they can apply a one size fits all approach. So they try to put a policy in place because that's what they used to do, then they realise you can't do that because so much depends on what each individual device can and can't do."

BYOD: User engagement

A BYOD policy "must be open enough to encourage use," Schiphof says.

"If you say, 'Yeah we do BYOD' and you bring your device and nothing works then the whole thing falls over and you can’t achieve the goal you're trying to achieve."

Dealing with issues like data security and acceptable use require user engagement and education.

O’Shea says that BYOD policies should be a balancing act between employees and the employer: "Between what the company wants and what the employee wants". His company, Mobile Mentor, advocates a "meet us half way" policy for organisations.

Schiphof's overall advice for organisations is: Have a strategy, work out why you're doing BYOD and involve HR and legal very early in the process at the strategic level. "In IT we don't typically think about HR and legal," he says. "We think device, technology, data issues, maybe cost if you're lucky, but typically not about HR and legal issues."

"BYOD is becoming the standard," he says. Down the track it will be normal for employees to bring their own device, "and as you move from job to job you take your device with you and the device connects to an individual rather than to an institution."

Rohan Pearce is the editor of Techworld Australia. Contact him at rohan_pearce at idg.com.au.

Follow Rohan on Twitter: @rohan_p

Follow Techworld Australia on Twitter: @techworld_au

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