The IT lexicon has become an acronym-plagued alphabet soup. You finally have a handle on LAN, WLAN, VLAN, DNS, VPN and all of those acronyms ending in –aaS, but now the BYOD (bring your own device) world has started a collection of its own. BYO-everything has many implications both for the way you work and for your BYOD security and mobile device management decisions, so it’s important to get a handle on the latest BYO-trends.
Bring Your Own Applications (BYOA)
If employees want to use their own devices, then it makes sense that they’d want to use their own applications. However, BYOA carries inherent security concerns. For example, depending on their terms of use, many mobile apps share the data they collect with third parties. Also, about 12.7 percent of Google Play apps contain Android malware, which can easily infiltrate the company network.
As with BYOD, the intrusion of BYOA is inevitable. Go on the offensive by following these steps:
- Know what’s out there. The CIO and others should stay up to date with the latest available and relevant apps. In many cases, these apps can be supported by the enterprise, and it’s better to offer company-endorsed solutions than to react to every employee app request. Compile an app portfolio and track each app’s ROI. Then, decide whether to continue supporting it or whether to replace it at the end of its lifecycle.
- Consider what the worker wants to do. Instead of evaluating individual app requests, consider what your workers want to accomplish. Make sure the app fits with the employee’s access rights and access requirements. If it doesn’t, offer an attractive alternative.
- Explain your decisions to your employees. Let your employee know exactly why you approve and deny different applications. Understanding may prevent employees from presenting unsuitable apps, and you can demonstrate consistent decision-making.
- Know your mobile strategy. Mobile strategy involves more than just authorizing apps and devices. You need to know the ways mobile apps can drive business innovation and improve employee work patterns. As you review apps, catalog apps and turn over your app portfolio, make sure the chosen apps fit in with your mobility vision.
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I think its important to have a clear mobile strategy. I think you can certainly find a way to incorporate different applications, but I think it can only be done well if you have a clear idea on how you want to use mobile technology.