IT Support Services You Need to Leverage BYOD

SERVER CRUSH

In the modern age of business, you can expect the vast majority of your workers
will have access to their own hardware. In 2020,
87% of UK adults owned a smartphone
and in 2018,
88% had their own computer.

From
these striking ownership statistics, you can see that offices no longer need to
be filled with expensive IT equipment. Instead, the face of the office has
changed, with more and more workers bringing their own devices.

 

The
benefits of making this change are clear to see. Your company will no longer be
burdened with crippling hardware procurement and maintenance costs.

 

Workers
will already have the devices they need from their personal life. Moreover, you
can expect your workers to find using their own devices to be much easier.

 

If
they can work on their personal computer, they will be used to all its features
and quirks. A worker who has a close relationship with their device will be
much more efficient.

 

But
there are hefty cyber-security risks attached to BYOD devices as you have less
control of them. Therefore, to access the benefits of BYOD you will need to
consider some key IT support services. By investing in BYOD cybersecurity,
patch management, and cloud computing, your employees can use their own devices
safely and efficiently.

Cyber-Security

 

As
is common in business, benefits come with their associated risks. The primary
risk with BYOD is cybersecurity. If you have an in-house IT team, they will
have much less access to the devices your workers use under BYOD. Your
employees will expect privacy where their own devices are concerned, but this means
they must become more responsible for their own cyber-safety. The
2020 report by Wombat Security revealed
that just 37% of device owners can define ransomware
.
If they cannot even define it, how can BYOD workers be expected to respond
appropriately to cyber-attack.

 

Good
practises can heavily reduce the risks attached to BYOD. These include
limiting a devices
access to only the data that the worker needs to do their job and having a
strong plan in the event of a cyber-attack
.
These measures alone will not prevent all cyber-attacks on BYOD workers.
Investing in cyber-security support services is the best protection.

 

An
excellent service to invest in that will improve the cyber-safety of all of
your BYOD workers is a quality VPN. These
virtual private networks encrypt all data
that your BYOD workers use as well as hiding your business
s IP
address
. A VPN therefore will
make it near impossible for a cybercriminal to identify exactly which traffic
is coming from your workers. Even if they are able to work this out, a
cybercriminal will struggle to decode the data. Therefore, making VPN
s compulsory for all BYOD workers is
paramount.

 

In
terms of more personal support services, ideally every company would have an
in-house team to lead BYOD employee data protection training and ensure
cyber-security. But these are expensive.

 

Choosing
a managed services provider will likely be more appropriate. You should look
for one that has a fantastic reputation for advising on the best software and
antivirus solutions for your BYOD workers. Ideally, the firm you choose should
also be capable of shaping your response plan to cyber-attack on your BYOD
employees.

 

BYOD
cyber-security is a tricky issue, as you must balance the privacy of your
employees against the risk of cyber-attack. By taking the advice given here,
you can avoid becoming one of the
50% of BYOD allowing companies who are
the victims of cyber-attack
.

 

Patch Management

 

An
often ignored means of avoiding cyber-attack is keeping up with patches to your
software. Good software companies will regularly make updates to tackle
developing cyber-threats. But they only work if you remember to install them.

 

Cybercriminals
recognise this human error and
27% of attacks are aimed at unpatched
software
. Moreover, patches improve
the efficiency of software and make it much easier for your employees to work
together.

 

However,
it would be naive to expect your employees to keep up with every patch that is
available for the software that they use. They should be keeping busy with
adding value to your business. So it is up to you to find the right patch
management solution for your business.

 

There
are tens, perhaps hundreds, of patch management softwares available. They offer
a multitude of different features for a range of prices. At around $1-$5 per
month, they are definitely worth the investment for the cyber-attacks they can
prevent.

 

This
choice does make choosing the right patch management software difficult.
Generally, you should look for software that reliably keeps up with all
patches.

 

Further,
choosing a cloud-based patch management software will ensure that your workers’
devices are updated simultaneously. This will avoid compatibility issues
between different versions of software.

 

However,
features such as scheduled updates or on-demand updates should be chosen based
on your needs.

 

Windows
Virtual Desktop

 

One
of the greatest challenges with BYOD is ensuring that your employees can be as
connected as they would be using shared hardware. Windows Virtual Desktop eliminates
all of these challenges.

 

Also known as Microsoft Azure,
it is a remote or BYOD working solution that allows for infrastructure to be
rolled out across all connected devices
.

 

It
is a cloud computing solution that allows a
virtual desktop
to be run across all of your BYOD employees

devices.
Crucially, it means that you will not need to run your own servers to connect
your employees.

 

Microsoft
Azure can also save you money. It connects your pre-existing licenses for
Microsoft 365 across connected devices. When purchasing Microsoft Azure, you can
choose between a pay-as-you-go option, or a one to three-year subscription
which can save you up to 80%.

 

Prices
for this cloud computing solution
begin at just over £10,000 with an
array of higher-end options available should you need them
.

 

Leveraging BYOD Safely
and Efficiently

 

It
is without doubt, that BYOD is the future of technology in business. BYOD
improves the quality of the work that your employees can produce and it heavily
reduces hardware costs.

 

The
risks associated with it can easily be mitigated, so long as you procure the
right cyber-security and patch management software. By combining these
solutions with excellent cloud computing, such as Microsoft Azure, BYOD can
take your business into the future.

Welcome to Server Crush, your number one source for all things We’re dedicated to giving you the very best article related Tech , finance , business and education related artical, Founded in

Leave a Comment