While the new office trend called 'bring your own device' or BYOD is increasingly getting popular with companies around the world (check out Neil Parmar's story here), it has not spared the small to medium enterprises.
Enterprises are embracing the trend as it tends to save them hardware and maintenance costs, and improve employee productivity as they feel more comfortable using their own devices.
“[The trend] is even more relevant in the Middle East where mobile phone usage, for example, is well over 100 per cent,” said Farhan Mirza, the principal for strategic IT practice at AT Kearney Middle East, in Dubai.
But while SMEs can leverage BYOD to cut costs, they often tend to overlook the risks. “Symantec’s State of Mobility Survey [this year] found that the average losses associated with mobility that SMEs incurred during 2011 was $126,000,” said Bulent Teksoz, Symantec’s chief security strategist for emerging markets, in Dubai. Symantec is a security software vendor.
In fact, the probability of corporate data getting mixed with personal data is one of the big problems of BYOD even for SMEs, said Nicolai Solling, the technology director at Help AG’s Dubai office. The company provides IT security software.
The other challenge can include a lack of control of data leakage, which can be a problem for SMEs with limited resources.
“A private device may have multiple users, here I am thinking about the kids on the backseat using the iPad for fun and games and may by coincidence do bad things to the business data,” Mr Solling said.
Here are some best practices tips for SMEs from Mr Teksoz on how to tackle BYOD:
1 Take stock of how many people use their personal devices for both work and personal use. 2 Secure the devices with mobile software, passwords and only use legitimate vendors to download applications. 3 Report all lost or stolen devices immediately. 4 Avoid opening unexpected e-mails or attachments. 5 Make use of technology that allows remote access of devices by the corporate IT departments to erase memory in case of lost or stolen devices.
