How An IT Services Provider In Houston Can Help You Design A BYOD Policy

As technology continues to advance and become more affordable, it is common to see employees buying smartphones, iPads, tablets, and laptops. Although your employees may acquire these gadgets to serve their own personal needs, it has been seen that employees use these same devices to access company networks working from home or when commuting. As an employer, you don’t need to reprimand them for doing so. Actually, you should encourage this because it means that this can increase your employees’ productivity if handled well. What you really need to do is to consult an IT services provider in Houston that can help you come up with a BYOD strategy that will work both for you and your employees.

What Choice Do You Have?

You can choose between barring your employees from using personal devices to handle work-related stuff or you can allow it while adhering to some pre-determined guidelines. These guidelines are entailed in a BYOD strategy. The goal of such a strategy is to ensure that your employees are allowed the freedom of using their own devices for work purposes. At the same time, the employer is protected from security and privacy issues that might arise in the process. Although your business might not necessarily fit the category of large companies, you need to borrow some lessons on how large corporations deal with BYOD devices. These “big boys” have employed an IT services provider in Houston that design and implement strict BYOD guidelines for all their employees. Since you have a small but growing business, you’ll need to hire an IT services provider that will be able to help you come up with a BYOD strategy for your business.

4 Key Considerations For A BYOD Strategy

Your BYOD strategy should be seen to be firm yet friendly. It should address itself to the following issues:

• Allowed devices – The policy should clearly outline the specific devices that are permitted for use at work.
• Remote access – The policy must make provisions for the employer to gain access to BYOD devices. It should delete or modify company-sensitive data without needing the device owner’s permission. This remote access should be confined to company data and it should not in any way intrude and alter personal data stored in the BYOD device.
• Privacy – Employees often use the same devices to access their personal social media accounts and emails. The policy must discuss how personal information will be kept and protected.
• Consequences – The policy must address the consequences and repercussions that shall befall any employee who does not adhere to the terms of the policy.

Are you in need of a BYOD policy for your small business? Do not hesitate to Contact us at ICS. We are an IT services provider in Houston. We are here to help you come up with a BYOD strategy for your business.

Jason Simons

ICS is a Texas-based 40-year-old technology company specializing in Managed IT, VoIP, Video Conferencing and Video Surveillance solutions for US and International businesses. ICS has over 4000 regional installations and specializes in multi-site businesses between 25 and 2500 employees. ICS’s customers enjoy the experience of ICS’s Total Care program which provides clients flat fee services with obsolescence and growth protection. Whether a customer elects to deploy their IT, Video Conferencing or VoIP in the cloud or on the customer’s premise, ICS can provide a full turn-key solution for our clients under one flat monthly fee.