BYOD

Apple BYOD: How User Enrollment revolutionizes personal device management at work

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Hexnode Apple User Enrollment helps IT departments work with employees’ personal devices.
Apple User Enrollment helps IT departments work with employees’ personal devices. 
Photo: Hexnode

This Apple for BYOD post is presented by Hexnode. 

Businesses enrolling employees’ personal devices for work use — known in IT circles as Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD — is growing. According to sources cited in Forbes, the market should reach nearly $367 billion by 2022, more than 10 times the size it was in 2014. Companies favoring BYOD tend to save about $350 per year per employee, and those employees see efficiency improvements by using personal devices, whether Android- or Apple-based. 

This cloud-based Apple device management solution coordinates the moving parts of any mobile workforce

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Jamf Now makes it easy for any business to establish and operate a network of Apple mobile devices.
Bushel makes it easy for any business to establish and operate a network of Apple mobile devices.
Photo: Bushel

This post is brought to you by Jamf Now.

Work has gone mobile, and businesses large and small must now keep up with the growing number of devices used by their employees to get the job done. Maybe you’re a contractor keeping track of repair crews from a field office Mac, or a store owner with iPhone-enabled inventory runners. Or maybe you run a coffee shop using iPads to process sales.

There are many reasons you might want a mobile-enabled workforce, and a lot of ways to go about setting one up, but many of them are quite expensive.

How BYOD can be as fun as BYOB

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VMWare AirWatch BYOD
Employees prefer their own iPhones. AirWatch could be your BYOD solution.
Photo: William Iven/Pixabay CC

This post is brought to you by VMware AirWatch.

Let’s face it: Asking a person to carry around two devices all the time, one for work and one for play, is just inefficient. When organizations implement overbearing management or ignore privacy concerns, they almost force users to carry a device for work and a device for personal use.

While a few employees may enjoy the air-gap separation of church and state, most people buckle under the stress of having two separate devices to potentially forget in a cab or leave on the airport bathroom sink (true story!).

Is containerization necessary for iOS devices at work?

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Everybody wants to bring their own device to work. AirWatch takes the hassle out of BYOD.
Everybody wants to bring their own device to work. AirWatch takes the hassle out of BYOD.
Photo: William Iven/Pixabay CC

This post is brought to you by VMware AirWatch.

If you know what the word “containerization” means, you probably work in IT (or you’re tech-savvy and adventurous enough to run afoul of your IT department on a regular basis). Containerization is the method of securing a device for corporate use by putting a part of it behind some type of authentication — without managing the actual device.

It’s a common practice in the corporate world, especially for bring your own device (or BYOD) environments, because containerization is often viewed as more lightweight than mobile device management, aka MDM. Users also may assume that MDM is overly intrusive and that containerization is a good compromise.

However, many of these issues are already solved for iOS. By leveraging Apple’s built-in privacy protections, AirWatch allows IT departments to preserve the native device experience while protecting corporate data.

Three Critical Business Dilemmas The iPhone 5 Will Create [Feature]

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Even before its launch, the iPhone 5 is creating concerns and challenges for businesses and IT departments.
Even before its launch, the iPhone 5 is creating concerns and challenges for businesses and IT departments.

Apple will launch the next iPhone (presumably named the iPhone 5) along with iOS 6 tomorrow. The new iPhone is expected to pack a range of updates that will make it a much more significant release than last year’s iPhone 4S. The biggest expectation is that the iPhone will include 4G LTE support and that, unlike the new iPad, it will support LTE bands used outside of North America.

We won’t know all the details of the iPhone 5 until Apple’s unveiling at the Yerba Buena Center. There are, however, three important issues that business users and IT managers will need to in mind during and after following tomorrow’s launch event – all three of which could have a significant impact on bring your own device (BYOD) programs that encourage users to bring their personal mobile devices into the office.

Horizon Mobile For iOS Will Separate Busines Apps And Data, But Will Apple Approve It?

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VMWare's Horizon Mobile aims to complete separate your work apps and data from everything personal on your iPhone or iPad.
VMWare's Horizon Mobile aims to complete separate your work apps and data from everything personal on your iPhone or iPad and secure them at the same time.

At VMWorld, this week VMWare showed of Horizon Mobile for iOS – an enterprise solution that separates business apps and content on an iOS device from a user’s personal apps, documents, and data. It’s an iOS version of a tool that VMWare previously demoed, but hasn’t yet shipped, for Android devices. While the name and the goal of Horizon mobile is essentially the same on both platforms, the company is taking a vastly different approach for iPhones and iPads.

Not only is the iOS approach different, it’s also nowhere near as revolutionary – other mobile enterprise companies have using similar approaches for a while and the one truly distinctive feature is one that Apple might not approve for distribution.

How To Deploy iOS 6 In Business The Right Way [Feature]

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iOS 6 has lots of business potential, but having a plan about rolling it out is critical.
iOS 6 has lots of business potential, but having a plan about rolling it out is critical.

With the release of iOS 6, Apple will offer business users a range of new features. A few of which are VIP email filtering (already in Mountain Lion) with custom notifications, more options when declining a phone call on the iPhone, much-needed privacy options, and Apple’s new Do Not Disturb feature – which should help some mobile professionals to “switch off” after work and maybe even get a good night’s sleep.

iOS updates are generally designed to be user-friendly and easy enough that anyone can manage to install them. As with any major OS or business critical software upgrade, however, there may be unforeseen issues with iOS 6 – particularly when it comes to internal iOS apps and iOS access to enterprise systems.

An iOS 6 upgrade policy and strategy is something that every IT department should have in place before Apple releases iOS 6. For businesses that actively support user devices in the workplace through a BYOD (bring your own device) program, that upgrade strategy is even more critical.

Good Keeps Your Work From Spilling Over Into Your Personal Life On Your iPhone Or iPad

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The latest release of Good for Enterprise delivers more security and separation of work and personal data on an iPhone or iPad.
The latest release of Good for Enterprise delivers more security and separation of work and personal data on an iPhone or iPad.

One of the first secure business solutions for the iPhone and iPad was Good for Enterprise, a secure collaboration tool that allows companies to separate business email, calendar, and contact systems from Apple’s standard Mail, Calendar, and Contacts apps. Going beyond simply separating work accounts and data from a user’s personal accounts, Good’s alternatives securely encrypt all data and must be unlocked using credentials other than the passcode used to unlock an iOS device.

Good released a significant update to Good for Enterprise this week, one that makes the solution more streamlined, user-friendly, and offers powerful new features – some of which are worth considering for their business functionality as well as their innate security.

Parallels Launches Crowdsourced “Apple In The Workplace Barometer”

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Parallels uses crowdsourcing to compare the Apple/BYOD friendliness of companies.
Parallels uses crowdsourcing to compare the Apple/BYOD friendliness of companies.

Ahead of the launch of Parallels Desktop 8, Parallels has launched a crowdsourced “Apple In The Workplace Barometer” that allows businesses or individual employees to see how their workplace ranks in terms of BYOD readiness for Macs, iOS devices, and other technologies. The site offers a quick and simple questionnaire that asks workers (or managers) about their work computing tasks, resources, and company-provided options. At the end of the survey, their company is plotted on a grid that measures active adoption of Apple technologies and active IT support for Macs, iPhones, and iPads.

Insomnia? Your iPad Could Be The Culprit

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New research suggest that iPad/tablet use before bed can cause sleep disorders and may raise your risk of other health problems.
New research suggest that iPad/tablet use before bed can cause sleep disorders and may raise your risk of other health problems.

It’s no real secret that bring your own device (BYOD) programs and the explosion of iPhones, iPads, and other mobile devices in the workplace have begun changing how we work, how we view work as a part of lives, and how much we work out of the office. A study earlier this year concluded that the average American worker using mobile technologies works seven hours outside of the office (essentially one business day) every week. A more recent study indicated some mobile professionals work even more – up to 20 hours each – during off hours thanks to BYOD programs.

One of the impacts this has one iPhone and iPad-toting professionals is a disruption from the traditional work/life balance that can make hard to fully “switch off” at the end of the day. Now there’s evidence that such a disruption can have a physical as well as a psychological impact on the human body.

What IT Wants To See In iOS 6 [Feature]

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iOS 6 will deliver a lot of business features, but what about enterprise/IT integration?
iOS 6 will deliver a lot of business features, but what about enterprise/IT integration?

It’s been over two years since Apple unveiled iOS 4 with mobile management features designed to make the iPhone and iPad a significantly better corporate citizen. During those years, the landscape of business and enterprise mobility has changed dramatically. RIM has collapsed and will never truly recover, Microsoft has doubled down on the interface it launched late in 2010 with no guarantee of success, and Android has become much more enterprise friendly. Perhaps more important is the fact that idea of mobile management and security has shifted from a focus on devices to a focus on securing data and managing mobile apps.

As all this has happened, Apple’s mobile management framework, which is the system that all mobile management vendors plug into in order to secure and manage iOS devices, has essentially stagnated. With iOS 6 on the horizon, lets look at the areas that Apple needs to address if it wants iOS to remain one of the preferred mobile platforms for business.

How The VA Eliminated Data Breaches On iPhones And Other Mobile Devices

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The VA's mobile security chief offers IT leaders five excellent tips for securing mobile devices.
The VA's mobile security chief offers IT leaders five excellent tips for securing mobile devices.

Like many federal agencies, the Department of Veterans Affairs has embarked on the journey of integrating iPhones and iPads as mobile solutions. The agency currently has 20,000 mobile devices that includes iPhones and iPads along with some BlackBerries and a small number of Android devices. Despite the range of devices, the VA has been very active in trying to eliminate mobile data breaches and, according to the VA’s director of Mobile and Security Assurance Donald Kachman, the agency’s campaign has been extremely successful.

Kachman credits encryption technologies with as a major factor in that success – 99% of all VA data is now secured around the clock on mobile devices and desktop PCs. The security approach is one that can be a model for any organization.

Using Your iPhone For Work Will Cost You An Average Of $1,089 Each Month

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Apple is ready for another huge bond sale. Photo: Cult of Mac
Using an iPhone or iPad for work can result in some truly nasty bills.

While bring your own device (BYOD) programs that encourage employees to use their personal iPhones, iPads, and other devices in the office increases productivity and employee satisfaction, the trend is also turning those employees into workaholics. That’s not entirely a new realization – we’ve covered the potential impact of the BYOD trend on the work/life balance before (including a recent study that showed that BYOD programs actually improve that balance for IT professionals).

The latest research on BYOD’s impact on workers shows two additional insights – a significant number of employees are footing the bill (sometimes a very big bill)  for mobile data service while on the road for work.

Half The Companies Allowing Personal iOS And Android Devices Have Suffered A Security Breach

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BYOD programs present security challenges some companies choose to ignore.
BYOD programs present security challenges some companies choose to ignore.

The most striking point in a recent report commissioned by Trend Micro was that IT administrators are beginning to rank Apple’s iOS ahead of RIM’s BlackBerry and other mobile platforms, but there were some other significant details in that report.

The report focuses on mobile security and issues related to bring your own device (BYOD) programs. Such programs encourage employees to use their personal iPhones, iPads, Android devices and other mobile technologies to access business resources and perform work related tasks. Many IT professionals believe that BYOD programs introduce security risks – and it looks like they’re right believe that. Decisive Analytics, the company that prepared the report, notes that nearly half the IT professionals that they surveyed in the U.S., U.K., and Germany admitted that their companies had already experienced a mobile-related security breach.

RIM’s BlackBerry Loses The Mobile Security Crown To Apple’s iPhone and iPad

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IT administrators have finally warmed up to the iPhone and now rank it as more secure than the BlackBerry.
IT administrators have finally warmed up to the iPhone and now rank it as more secure than the BlackBerry.

The perception of the BlackBerry as the most secure and manageable mobile platform seems to be faltering. According to a new report, senior IT administrators now consider Apple’s iOS to be the most secure and manageable platform – despite the fact that RIM offers ten times the number of security and device management policies that Apple provides in iOS.

Study Shows Most IT Departments Fail To Explain Or Enforce iPhone/iPad Security

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A new study shows that IT departments are dropping the ball when it comes to explaining and enforcing mobile security.
A new study shows that IT departments are dropping the ball when it comes to mobile security.

Another study of the bring your own device (BYOD) phenomenon concludes that the trend of employees bringing the personal iPhones, iPads, and other devices into the office shows no sign of slowing down. It also confirms previous reports that indicate many personal devices being used in the workplace don’t have even basic security features enabled.

The study by Coalfire, a company the specializes in IT risk management services, paints a particularly grim picture of the lack of security for iOS and Android devices in the workplace. With the BYOD trend show no signs of slowing or ending, Coalfire CEO Rick Dakin, notes that companies cannot afford to keep ignoring mobile security concerns.

How One Company Made A Multi-Million Dollar Blunder In Buying 14,000 iPads

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Coming soon to a Department of Defense near you?
What can businesses learn from a company that spent millions of dollars on thousands of iPads without knowing how they'd be used?

I’ve been a big proponent of the iPad in business since Apple first announced its tablet more than two and a half years ago. In that time, the iPad has more than proved its value in companies of all different sizes and across virtually every industry. That said, the iPad isn’t a fit for every job within every workplace. If a company is considering investing in iPads for its employees, one of the first things that company and its IT leaders need understand is how the iPad will be used.

That seems like a pretty basic step in the procurement process, but it’s one that seems to be getting overlooked by some companies – including one very large enterprise company that should have known better.

Many Organizations Are Unprepared For Mass Adoption Of Employee iPhones and iPads

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BYOD programs are here to stay, but many companies still don't secure employee devices.
BYOD programs are here to stay, but many companies still don't secure employee devices.

The number of personally-owned iPads, iPhones, and other mobile devices that professionals bring into office is expected to more than double between now and 2014. That means the businesses that have so far been lax about considering or planning an official bring your own device (BYOD) program and/or establishing security policies around BYOD are going to need to play catch up – and they’ll need to get started as soon as possible.

Why Apps (Not MDM) Are The Future Of iPhone Management [Feature]

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Mobile management means securing apps and content as well as locking down devices.
Mobile management means securing apps and content as well as locking down devices.

There are plenty of stories out there about the explosive growth of mobile technology in the workplace. The trend towards bring your on device (BYOD) models in which employees are allowed or encouraged to bring their own iPhones, iPads, and other devices into the office is driving a massive expansion of the number of mobile devices used for work tasks. At the same time, the annual (or even more frequent) device an OS release cycles that have become common are driving up diversity of devices and resetting the mobile technology playing field every few months.

That constant change is forcing the IT professionals to adapt to new devices, apps, use cases, network models, and security threats faster than anything the IT industry has ever seen.

This is particularly visible in the mobile management space. A year ago, the primary method for handling mobile device and data security was to manage and lock down the device itself using one of dozens of mobile device management (MDM) suites on the market. Over the past six to nine months, however, MDM has been replaced by mobile app management (MAM) as the best way to secure business data. That’s a warp-speed transition in the mindset and goals of IT professionals.

Many Companies Supporting Employee iPhones And iPads Ignore Mobile Security

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A growing number of companies embracing BYOD are ignoring mobile security issues.
A growing number of companies embracing BYOD are ignoring mobile security issues.

The number of companies investing in mobile management and security solutions related to bring your own device (BYOD) programs is growing, but not nearly as fast as the number of companies that are actually offering BYOD to their employees. The result is that many companies are putting themselves and their data at risk by jumping onto the BYOD bandwagon too quickly and without properly securing employee iPhones, iPads, and other devices or the business data that is stored on them.

10 Reasons Not To Use Your iPhone or iPad For Work While Vacationing

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Although an iPhone and iPad can help you work on vacation, here are ten good reasons that you shouldn't.
Although an iPhone and iPad can help you work on vacation, here are ten good reasons that you shouldn't.

 

Over the past few weeks, I’ve taken a look at a couple of studies that show how the iPhone, iPad, and other consumer technologies that are being embraced at the office are shifting the work/life balance for most professionals. The always connected and available capabilities that our mobile technologies engender are pushing us towards more work and less life.

The first study showed that professionals using an iPhone, iPad, or other mobile devices on the job and at home often put in enough extra time during “off hours” to equal an extra day’s worth of work each week. The second study showed that many of us tend to bring work with us on vacation in the form of an iPhone or iPad (both of which are great for travel), a laptop, or even just cloud-based access to work resources.

Does Bringing Your Own iPhone To Work Really Save Your Business Money?

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Do BYOD programs save money or cost more? It depends on your company and who you hire to help implement them.
Do BYOD programs save money or cost more? It depends on your company and who you hire to help implement them.

Do bring your own device (BYOD) programs that allow or encourage users to bring their personal iPhones, iPads, and other devices into the workplace reduce costs or do they drive costs up because of the need for mobile management, training, and technical support?

That fundamental question has been the source of a lot of debate, numerous studies, and a lot of sleepless nights for CIOs and IT managers.

The truth is that this is a question that’s difficult, if not impossible, to answer definitively. There are many variables involved in developing and implementing a BYOD policy or program.

BYOD Is Less Common Than It Seems And It Rarely Saves Money

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Less than 10% of companies report BYOD programs lead to cost savings.
Less than 10% of companies report BYOD programs lead to cost savings.

Bring your own device (BYOD) programs that allow employees to use their personal iPhones, iPads, Android devices, or other mobile technologies in the office are becoming more mainstream. While there are many advantages to allowing or actively encouraging employee-owned devices in the workplace, reducing costs isn’t one of them for most companies despite the fact that cost reduction is one of the most common goals for a BYOD program.

In fact, companies are more likely to see costs increase after adding BYOD as an option for employees. That’s a common perception that is being proved accurate by a new study that looks at home companies are handling BYOD, the cost savings or increases associated with BYOD, and the mobile platforms supported by BYOD programs.

BoxTone Launches A Price War For iPhone & iPad Management Tools

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BoxTone turns up the competition for iOS/mobile management with $0.99 offer.
BoxTone turns up the competition for iOS/mobile management with $0.99 offer.

Mobile management vendor BoxTone announced an aggressive pricing and sales campaign for its mobile management platform today. From now through the end of September, companies will be able to license BoxTone’s mobile device management (MDM) suite for a monthly fee of just $0.99 per device.

The move comes just a week after BoxTone announced the latest generation of its mobile management tools that includes the now-discounted MDM module as well as modules focused on mobile app management (MAM), mobile device support solutions for help desk agents and IT support teams, and a mobile operations module for monitoring and managing mobile IT staff.

RIM Loses Down Under As Qantas, IBM Australia Ditch The BlackBerry

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Qantas becomes the latest company to ditch the BlackBerry in favor of the iPhone.
Qantas becomes the latest company to ditch the BlackBerry in favor of the iPhone.

While most CIOs and IT leaders are taking steps to reduce their reliance on RIM’s BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES), some major BlackBerry business customers are ready to abandon RIM’s services and its BlackBerry smartphones in one fell swoop. The latest company to announce such a migration is the Australian airline Qantas.

The company told the Australian (registration required) that it had made the decision to trade its 1,300 BlackBerry devices and related service packages for iPhones. The move, which Qantas expects will deliver significant cost savings, follows a company-wide survey in which a “large majority” of employees said that they’d prefer iPhones.

Like other companies and organizations that have announced similar transitions this year, Qantas chief information officer Paul Jones pointed to the iPhone’s ease of use and popularity as reasons for selecting the iPhone.