Tag Archives: iPhone

Are You Ready for Mobility?

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Mobility in the workforce is increasing productivity and driving savings for small to medium sized companies. Recent research from the Computer Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) uncovers 73% of small businesses surveyed cite they have a mobile device strategy driven by moderate to heavy focus for Mobility to make employees in the field more productive. Moreover, 58% of respondents have productivity gains for travelling employees as a moderate to heavy focus to include smart phones, tablet PCs and laptop computers in their businesses. Connecting employees with customers was cited as a moderate to heavy focus for driving Mobility strategies by 55% of those surveyed, while 48% cited eCommerce as a moderate to heavy focus in their Mobility strategies.

To take full advantage of smart phones, tablet PCs and laptop computers in your company, there are a few precautions to consider when rolling out a mobile solution. Here are a few tips to consider to get the most from your Mobility solution:

Check your Mobile Security Policy

Some mobile devices may be vulnerable to trojans, malware and phishing schemes. Ensure that your Mobile Solution includes security measures to keep devices connected to your network, corporate applications and data are up to date with mobile anti-virus and mobile-anti malware protection. Passwords aren’t enough to protect your devices, therefore, companies must also encrypt corporate data on mobile devices and be prepared to remotely locate and wipe lost or stolen mobile devices.

Check your Network Bandwidth for your Mobility Solution

Some mobile applications can put a strain on your companies wireless network. To receive maximum productivity from your employees using mobile devices in the workplace, provide secure and robust wireless access. Monitor your network for performance, but also monitor your network for unauthorized access.

Train your employees on your Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Policy

Your employees may access corporate systems or have corporate data on their mobile devices if you have a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy. If your company provides a corporate owned mobile device, your employees may put personal data (e.g. photos, contacts) on your company owned assets. Regardless, establish an acceptable use policy within your business and train your employees the importance of compliance. Clarify if personal data can be stored on company owned mobile assets. Also, clarify if company data can be stored on personal assets. Train your employees on the risks associated with lost or stolen devices and make sure they understand the importance of reporting a loss or data breach, as soon as possible.

There are many aspects to getting the most from your Mobility solution. Ensuring that you provide your employees with secure, robust access to your approved systems and application data is key. Training your employees on your written policies is also important to ensure compliance with your mobile solution policies. Contact your IT Solutions expert for a network security assessment or review of your IT security policies.

Getting More From Your IT in 2013

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Getting More From Your IT in 2013

There are plenty of ways to get more from your IT budget in 2013. Mobility, remote support and cloud backup are a few technologies that will make your budget go farther. Let’s explore a few ways you can leverage these emerging trends to get more from your IT infrastructure.

Mobility

Mobility is a rapidly growing trend. Most analysts agree there will be as many shipments for mobile devices (e.g. smart phones and tablets) as there are for PC desktops, laptops and servers shipped in 2013. With more emphasis on mobility, companies need to address the security issues around lost or stolen devices.

Mobile devices may have access to critical business applications or have corporate data resided on the smartphone or tablet. Companies may be subject to data leaks if these mobile assets are lost or stolen. If you have unintended disclosure of privacy information related to employees, customers or suppliers, you may be subject to fines due to breach of industry (e.g. PCI Compliance) or regulatory requirements (e.g. HIPAA). You may also lose goodwill with customers if you suffer a data loss. A data loss could also impact sales. By protecting these mobile devices with a proper mobility strategy, you can avoid the costs associated with a data leak. As they say, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.

Remote Support

Many companies have turned to remote support models to monitor and manage their network environment. By remotely monitoring and managing your network and related IT assets, your IT Service Provider may be able to fix your IT costs by providing comprehensive IT support and IT services delivered remotely.

Secure remote support is an important element for delivering an IT Managed Service. In addition to remote support, many IT Service Providers offer remote network monitoring, managed backup and managed security in their IT Managed Service offerings. By adopting the Managed Service Model your IT Service Provider can proactively manage all of your IT needs.

Because services are delivered proactively, as compared to when things are broken or need to be fixed, you can move from a time-and-materials model to a fixed-cost model. This means lower downtime, higher availability and predictable IT costs for your business.

Cloud Backup

Many companies have already turned to the cloud to access enterprise class infrastructure that they may have been beyond their reach in the past. Cloud backup may provide your company with a cost effective and secure way for you to backup your critical application data and other files you need to protect in the event of a disaster recovery scenario. By leveraging secure cloud backup, your data will be available when you need it, to bring your business back online.

Some Cloud backup solutions also offer cloud sharing. This means you can have access to your cloud storage from multiple devices across the internet. By using Cloud backup technologies for cloud sharing you can access files and data from a PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet via the cloud. You can boost your employee productivity by accessing your data when you need it from where you need it.

All of these technologies have the ability to save you time and allow you to get more for your money. However, they all need proper planning to ensure your implementation of these technologies is secure and reliable. Reach out to your IT Service Provider for assistance, as appropriate ,to ensure you get the most from your IT budget in 2013.

Beyond Bring Your Own Device

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Beyond Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Many businesses have adopted an IT policy of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) to save money and provide employees with the flexibility of staying connected when they travel, work from home and spend time in the field.  The BYOD policy allows employees to use personal smart phones and tablets for business purposes.

According to research firm Computer Economics, companies can save between $1350 and $3500 annually by adopting a BYOD policy.  In addition, employees can be more productive and have higher job satisfaction with a IT mobility plan.

According to research by the Computer Technology Industry Association, CompTIA, security is the primary issue for IT Managers when it comes to mobility.  The number one risk cited is loss or theft of a mobile device.  Seventy percent of those surveyed implement mobile device password locking as part of their data protection plan for mobile devices.

However, a four digit password in itself is not enough security, so there are a number of additional precautions companies should take to protect valuable corporate data.

Here are a few recommendations you may consider to help mitigate risk from your BYOD policy:

Have employees agree to a policy of notifying the company in a timely manner when a device is lost or stolen.  If the company uses technology to “wipe” corporate data from the mobile device ensure employees keep personal data separate or prevent company data from residing on the mobile device all together.

Local laws may prevent an employer from wiping or “rooting” a mobile device upon loss, theft or employee termination.  If you do business in foreign countries be aware of the governing laws if you implement a BYOD policy.

If an employee is attaching to your corporate or WiFi network, consider auditing your network for unauthorized mobile devices.  Also, consider implementing corporate guidelines for supported mobile devices.  Have a policy that ensures all mobile devices are up to date with Operating System O/S Patches and also have up to date anti-virus and anti-malware installed.

If employees are accessing corporate systems using mobile applications, publish a list of “white listed” or approved applications.  Additionally, publish a list of “black listed” or unauthorized mobile applications.   In the alternative, consider maintaining a private or enterprise application store to manage the distribution and updates for approved mobile applications.

If employees use cloud based data sharing, create company policy and guidelines for what, if any, corporate data may reside on mobile devices.  If corporate data is authorized for a mobile device consider encrypting the data on the device, as well as, the data transmitting Over The Air (OTA).

Security is the top priority when it comes to implementing a company Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy.  There are a variety of technical solutions, in addition to policy based issues required to safely and securely implement a BYOD policy.  Consult with your IT Service Provider to ensure your mobile device policy is a secure one.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

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Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)

Bring your own device (BOYD) is a recent trend where employees use their personal mobile devices including: iPhones, iPads, tablets computers and smartphones to access company information including your network, email, files and critical business applications. This policy can make your employees more productive. BYOD may save you the expense of buying mobile devices for your employees. However, if not managed appropriately, BYOD may open up security risks in your data protection strategy.

Due to their mobile nature, these mobile devices are susceptible to theft and loss. Also, mobile devices may infect your network with viruses and malware, if they are not properly maintained. Here are some tips to minimize your exposure to employees who BYOD:

Require Passcode to Unlock Device

Requiring a passcode will prevent unintended access to your network or application data in case a user’s mobile device is lost or stolen.

Keep OS/apps Up To Date

To avoid virus and malware attacks on your mobile devices, it is a good policy to keep the operating system up to date with the latest security patches. It is also a good idea to keep your applications up to date to avoid a network security breach.

Don’t Allow “Jailbreaking” of Operating Systems

Some employees may “jailbreak” their iPhones or iPads so they can install additional applications and extensions that may not be available through the Apple Store. Jailbreaking may expose security breaches on these devices creating a weak link in your data protection plan.

Services for Tracking and Wiping

Most mobile devices will automatically check in to their geo-location when they are turned on. There are services that will track a lost or stolen device and even allow you to wipe critical data and applications from the device to disable any unauthorized access to applications and data.

BYOD can make your employees productive and save business expense. If you take advantage of this trend make sure your employees are properly educated and knowledgeable about the risks. Minimize your risks by having a plan and policy for managing these devices if they are connecting to your network in order to avoid security risks.