Employees Push Back Against BYOD and Enterprise Solutions That Aren't Secure

Bring your own device (BYOD) continues to be a viable way for companies to outfit their employees with the latest mobile technology, mainly because individuals are more able to upgrade their personal devices often than a company is able to roll out a business-wide upgrade of employee technology. BYOD allows for employees to gain familiarity with the technology they use to work because they also use it for personal gain. In addition, having your work device with you at home spurs impromptu working hours outside of the office.

To ensure that employees will continue to utilize their personal devices at work, companies need to go an extra step in ensuring that the benefits of using personal devices at work are there. Employees won’t go out of their way to purchase expensive applications, but if given access to these applications they will be more likely to install. Enterprise-wide solutions are a way to meet employees half way with BYOD policies, so not all of the burden is on employees to pay for the best technology.

The problem is that there are only a number of solid enterprise apps available for companies to purchase. Employees worry that, by downloading these apps, employers will have access to personal data that an employee has a right to keep personal. Mixing work and pleasure in such a way opens up dangerous possibilities in the eyes of an employee. According to Bitglass, 57 percent of employees and 38 percent of IT professionals don’t participate in BYOD programs because they don’t want employers to have visibility into their personal data and applications. 67 percent of respondents said they would participate in a BYOD program if employers had the ability to protect corporate data but couldn’t view, alter or delete personal data and applications.

Employers are just as concerned. Opening up enterprise apps to employees means data could be available in a number of places, making it harder to secure. Whether through malware or theft of the physical device, storing company data on private property is a tricky dilemma.

Enterprise apps can help to assuage concern for both parties. He company has a place to manage resource allocation, placing certain data on certain devices and keeping it clear from others. This means that not everyone poses a risk, only those that the company deems secure enough to trust with sensitive information in the first place. So the company feels safer and not all employees are burdened with carrying data.

Security isn’t enough though. Employees want apps that are user-friendly, same as when they purchase apps for personal use. Enrolling in these apps must also be user-friendly – if it’s a headache to sign up then employees won’t want to use the app. Converting company data into a user-friendly setting is tough, but enterprise apps need to be able to show information in a way that it is easy to digest by the employee.

As companies move to the cloud more and more will being to adopt BYOD and enterprise solutions. As long as the apps are user-friendly and employees are sure their personal data will be secure, pushback will be alleviated.

To learn more read the full article on CIO.com.

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