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I've been hearing a consistent murmur from my CIO friends about the pressures they are getting to support personal mobile devices (iPhones, Droids, iPads, etc.) on their networks. This is obviously a request that needs to be given it's due diligence; but I'm going to suggest that responding with, "We don't support that" and burying your head in the sand, is NOT the right answer. Also, those that are looking at one device at a time (i.e. we're thinking of supporting the iPhone) are going to find themselves in an endless cycle of analysis as the number of mobile devices continue to increase and the market share of these devices continues to rapidly change (Android is now the leader and it didn't exist 2 years ago).
Here's why you need to support personal mobile devices on your corporate network:
1) Your Peers Are Doing It
I'm not a follow the herd kind of guy, but understandably, some conservative CIOs are, so here's a nugget. A recent study by Aberdeen showed that 73% of companies are allowing some or all employees to use personal mobile devices at work. 8% plan to allow all employees personal device access in the next 12 months. This is going to continue to increase (not decrease), I guarantee it. Do you require corporate assigned PCs in employee's homes to access your VPN?
2) Your Best Employees are Asking For It
I'm willing to bet that your most productive employees are the ones asking for personal device support. They realize that the mobile channel allows them to do their job more efficiently and they know they'll be more efficient if they can have personal and corporate data on one device. That's why they are asking for access. Not to cause you headaches, but to be more efficient. Also, this allows them to pick a device based on their needs. Not everyone wants last year's sh*tty Blackberry, and similarly not everyone needs an iPhone 4. Let them decide.
3) It Will Save Your Company Money
Your best knowledge workers are already buying smart phones for their personal lives. Allow them access to your corporate data and you just saved yourself from having to buy them a work-specific device. Just give them a stipend every two years for a new device. Oh, and just because they use a personal device for work doesn't mean you have to pay their entire cell phone bill. Give them a fixed monthly allowance (i.e. $40) for voice and data use. This will make 99% of your employees happy and save you a ton on mobile contracts. Your other 1% making daily calls to the UK or India can get on a different plan.
4) Security Ain't That Hard
For many companies (and I acknowledge this isn't true for all), you need very basic security features to protect your organization; namely password protection on the phone and remote wipe capability. All major smartphone OSes support these capabilities. Also, require your employees to register their personal devices if they want to use them for corporate data access. This allows you to provide selective access to your Exchange Active Sync and Blackberry Enterprise Servers without having to open them up to the world. Some enterprise software vendors like Mobile Iron and Trust Digital make it even easier to monitor and remotely administer/wipe any lost or stolen mobile devices accessing your network.
Supporting personal mobile devices, in a controlled manner, is going to make your workforce more efficient and ultimately save you headaches (and reduce the slips in the "Complaints" box). As the number of mobile devices and capabilities continue to diverge, a well thought out policy with proactive registration and minimal security will keep your employees happy, and your data safe.
Got other tips or a differing opinion? Use the comments below!
