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Most Companies Will Require You To Bring Your Own Mobile Device By 2017

Lucas123 writes "Half of all employers will require workers to supply their own mobile devices for work purposes by 2017, according to a new Gartner study. Enterprises that offer only corporately-owned smartphones or stipends to buy your own will soon become the exception to the rule in the next few years. As enterprise BYOD programs proliferate, 38% of companies expect to stop providing devices to workers by 2016 and let them use their own, according to a global survey of CIOs by Gartner. At the same time, security remains the top BYOD concern. 'What happens if you buy a device for an employee and they leave the job a month later? How are you going to settle up? Better to keep it simple. The employee owns the device, and the company helps to cover usage costs,' said David Willis, a distinguished analyst at Gartner."

11 of 381 comments (clear)

  1. So.... by Mitreya · · Score: 5, Interesting

    As enterprise BYOD programs proliferate, 38% of companies expect to stop providing devices to workers by 2016 and let them use their own

    Do they get to monitor communications or wipe my own device now if anything goes wrong?

    1. Re:So.... by admdrew · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yeah, there's software out there to do exactly that, that a lot of employers (I'm in the network security field) already require to be installed if you want to connect to work resources.

    2. Re:So.... by afidel · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I see the future of BYOD being running another OS instance for the work apps, or possibly a separate easily switched profile with encrypted storage. One of the biggest hurdles right now with iOS and BYOD is that the end user can easily recover the wiped data from their last icloud backup. There are similar concerns with personal Dropbox accounts, how do you regain control of your corporate data once it's on an account that the user controls? There are solutions to the problem like windows rights management server (DRM for corporate documents) but they don't tend to play well with machines that aren't part of the central infrastructure, and are especially poor at support non-PC platforms.

      --
      There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
    3. Re:So.... by ryanov · · Score: 5, Insightful

      If it's my device that I paid for, I *don't* want to connect to work resources. Fuck that. My device, my number, none of your business.

    4. Re:So.... by SvnLyrBrto · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'm as big a fan of the iPhone as anyone, but the tools you mention don't work for BYOD. They're great for company owned and managed devices. But it's not "Your Own Device" if you're letting someone else control it with those profiles or activesync connections. If I've paid for hardware with my own money, it's mine... period, full stop. No one else gets admin, root, remote-wipe, find my iPhone, or whatever privileges but me.

      I'd allow a company-controlled encrypted partition or something. But *I* retain control of *my* device as a whole. Apple's tools don't yet allow such a solution.

      --
      Imagine all the people...
    5. Re:So.... by Solandri · · Score: 5, Informative

      Samsung is already working on a solution to that. Basically, instead of your employer having full run of the phone, all the employer stuff is put into a sandboxed instance of the OS. Your personal phone runs into another sandboxed instance. Like having two virtual machines running simultaneously, you can flip between the two. Your employer has full control over one, and you have full control over the other.

      I'm a little skeptical of how well it'll work in practice (backups will probably be problematic). But if they can pull it off, it will eliminate the need to carry two phones just because your workplace wants full access and control.

    6. Re:So.... by Dcnjoe60 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yeah, exactly. I'm on Android, and within the last year our standard connection to our work Exchange server required me to accept some basic management settings (remote wiping included) just to be able to pull my mail down, no extra software needed.

      You shouldn't have signed away your rights like that. Maybe you are comfortable giving your employer access to all the data on your phone, including photos, passwords and everything else. Most people probably would think the pictures you took in Vegas aren't any of your employer's business. Out of curiousity, if you change those basic management settings, does your email still work? If not, then something more than just settings was done to your phone, maybe software was installed remotely?

      Personally, if my employer feels I need access to email or to be reached 24/7, it is their responsibility to provide the means for that. They do not have the right to takeover my personal property or data just because I work there. Put differently, if there is a business reason for them needing me to receive emails/texts/calls outside of normal working hours, then they should provide a business solution. If I want to do it for my own convenience on my own device, well, then I would have to weigh the convenience against all the privacy issues involved.

  2. Just Say No to BYOD by MarioMax · · Score: 5, Insightful

    At my company there is a lot of internal chatter about BYOD, along with the security concerns (especially in terms of IP).

    My stance: Just say no to BYOD. If my company deems it necessary for me to use a portable electronic device to perform my job, then either:
    a) They supply it, and it remains company property, or
    b) There is no option b

  3. Re:Don't bother getting ahold of me then by Cryacin · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yeah, this happened to me once too. My boss was quite personally hurt when I handed in my letter of resignation AND rejected his counter offer to pay. My reasoning:
    1. Never accept counter offers - this means that your employer is not paying you what you're really worth, and means that you'll always have to threaten to leave to get paid a fair amount.
    2. Never accept counter offers - it's just a method for them to change the timing of when you leave to something more convenient to them.

    If more people had the guts to trust in their own abilities, we would all be better off.

    --
    Science advances one funeral at a time- Max Planck
  4. Re:Subsidised phone is huge bargain for companies by Anonymous+Psychopath · · Score: 5, Interesting

    A company paying $75 or so for monthly smartphone service pays for itself many times over in keeping employees tethered to the business and available for around-the-clock email and messaging. I expect companies will continue paying for service even for BYOD shops. If forcing employees to purchase a phone discourages them from using a phone for work then it will be a huge loss for companies.

    This is how it works where I am (Fortune 500 technology company). The company pays all the service, including my personal calls and data use, and I pay for the phone. They negotiate shorter contract terms and lower up-front device costs. I get my choice of carriers and devices. They also negotiate discounted service pricing for my family.

    The company does not wipe my entire device when I disconnect it from their system and remove their MDM, they just delete their content and leave everything else alone. They do enforce screen lock timeouts and require a PIN or password. They will wipe my device in its entirety if it's stolen.

    This is a sane BYOD policy that balances the desire of the employees to have a choice in their electronic tether with their needs to secure their IP.

    --

    Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.

  5. This BYOD stuff is just getting ridiculous. by Teddy+Beartuzzi · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Should I be buying my own desk? My own chair? Hell, my cubicle walls are clearly my responsibility too, right? If a company thinks an employee needs something for their job, then they should provide it.