BYOD

BYOD: First and Foremost an Opportunity

Embracing a “bring-your-own-device” (BYOD) strategy helps transform a business in today’s on-the-go society. With a BYOD implementation, you can push content, data and apps to the outermost edge of the network right into employee hands. Employees can access work data when they want it and in the format they prefer so they can take advantage of almost any business opportunity – even if it is presented outside of the workplace.

Plan for the Unexpected with BYOD

As mobile devices and cloud services become mainstream, the boundaries between personal and business are blurring. Business is frequently discussed and even conducted outside of the office.

Traditionally, opportunities to progress a professional relationship would present themselves during a golf outing or a productive business dinner. Now opportunities can emerge anytime and anywhere.  Allowing employees to use a personal device to access your enterprise network can allow on-the-spot demonstrations, provide immediate answers to questions and promote innovative thinking.

While your organization can now capitalize on opportunities, BYOD doesn’t come without its challenges. IT departments are being asked to strategically embrace BYOD, but that means doing so in a way that keeps corporate data safe and in compliance with corporate and industry mandates.

BYOD Security and Management: Applying Controls to your BYOD policy

Managing device usage and applications, limiting liabilities on corporate devices and sharing confidential enterprise data should be primary concerns when developing a BYOD policy. These issues create unique considerations for IT, and accounting for all of them with a comprehensive yet manageable BYOD solution is often complex and challenging.

AT&T can help. We provide the BYOD customized strategy, consulting and planning services needed to determine the appropriate solutions to support your deployment. Our Mobile Enterprise Management services are carrier-, device- and mobile OS-agnostic. They take a fully integrated, comprehensive approach to all BYOD issues so you can focus creatively on how to benefit from BYOD rather than worrying about BYOD security and management challenges.

AT&T Mobile Enterprise Management weaves the right combination of products and services into a holistic solution, pulling in the appropriate tools to meet your organization’s specific requirements. In addition, AT&T Mobile Security services can help enforce consistent multi-level security across your mobile users and devices.  Your BYOD deployment might include any mix of the following mobility components:

• Mobile Device Management (MDM) offers traditional device management and control including over-the-air configuration and management settings;
• Mobile Application Management (MAM) distributes, manages and helps secure enterprise content, data and applications on corporate-owned and personal devices;
• Workspace Management electronically separates enterprise data from personal data using a dual-persona approach;
• Mobile Application Development helps you create user-friendly mobile apps, regardless of OS and hardware maker, so your employees can accomplish more from anywhere;
• Mobile Security for Enterprises integrates device-level security features with network-based security controls and encrypted transport for a comprehensive approach to enterprise mobile security. It's available even if you aren't an AT&T wireless customer.

Introducing a BYOD solution into your company can make your employees more productive, provide immediate access to information at all times and represent untold opportunities for your business. AT&T Mobile Enterprise Management and Mobile Security services allow you to embrace BYOD with confidence by:

• Helping to keep corporate data secure in today’s borderless, dynamic mobile networks
• Helping you develop and distribute strategic mobile applications onto employees’ business or personal devices
• Providing the solutions and expertise that help you develop a sound BYOD strategy

We’ll handle the heavy lifting; you focus on how to empower your BYOD employees in all-new ways. To learn more, have us contact you today.

Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) Considerations

Here are some questions to consider when determining a BYOD strategy for your organization:

1) Do you have any existing policies in place regarding the use of personal mobile devices to access networks that contain corporate data? If not, your organization should at least decide how to control user access to corporate information, whether it’s permitted or not.

2) Are employees already accessing corporate resources with personal devices?  Even if you don’t have a documented BYOD support strategy, workers might be using existing credentials to access corporate data. If this is happening, you’ll significantly lower your risk if you find a way to discover those unknown mobile devices and gain some measure of control over them.

3) What components should be included in a BYOD strategy? There are a wide variety of answers to this question, depending on the mobility goals you establish and the policies you create. You might choose run an all-BYOD shop, or a hybrid environment that includes both BYOD and corporate-liable devices. You might be creating and delivering all-new, strategic mobile apps or merely trying to increase user accessibility and communication.

Defining your BYOD strategy and then identifying the solution components needed to support that strategy varies from company to company. AT&T recommends using professional BYOD planning and implementation services to:

• Help ensure you embark on the right strategy for your business
• Match the appropriate mobility components to your BYOD strategy

4) What security concerns should I address before introducing BYOD into my company? Allowing non-corporate devices access to your network increases the risk of data leakage and malware issues.   These risks need to be managed with the appropriate tools.  Simply not having a BYOD policy is not a viable option.  BYOD security should be a key component of that strategy.

Many users circumvent the rules and find their own back door into the company network. You may mitigate risk if employees know that BYOD is welcome and are up-front in their attempts to connect and their willingness to report lost or stolen devices that contain corporate data.

BYOD Service Delivery

How you deploy the necessary components to support a BYOD environment in your organization will depend on your industry, mobility goals, company size, policies and a number of other factors. Your BYOD deployment might be very simple or very complex. AT&T professional services will engage with you from day one to create a blueprint for success. The blueprint will specify appropriate solution components for your environment, and your AT&T Mobile Application Consultant will manage and coordinate the deployment of those components.

AT&T provides you with comprehensive assistance every step of the way with the following expertise, resources and services. Dedicated teams will help you:

• Plan, build and deploy your BYOD strategy and solution
• Manage your project from end-to-end
• Address security policy needs
• Help identify and manage any device compatibility issues

Our deep experience with enterprise mobility applications can extend your business processes and allow you to do more with less.

Customer Support for Your BYOD Solution

AT&T offers a variety of customer support options from which you can choose-ranging from business hours support to 24/7 management.  You can rely on AT&T to assist with strategy, deployment and end-to-end management of your BYOD solution.  We act as an extension of your organization so your teams can focus on their daily priorities.  Want to learn more? Let us know how to reach you.

Your company is unique. Getting started with BYOD requires a holistic view of your mobility environment. To begin consulting about your BYOD strategy, let us contact you today.