Unified communications and BYOD – a match made in heaven?

With staff keen to use their own handsets in the workplace, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) seems like the perfect way to make the long-standing promise of Unified Communications a reality – but are we putting enough emphasis on security?

BYOD promises to shake up current business operations. But what are the hurdles you need to overcome first?

The benefits

The benefits of a BYOD solution properly implemented are undeniable:

› A leap in productivity

71% of UK IT decision makers believe that employees will be more productive with a BYOD policy in place – Vanson Bourne.

› Reduced capital spend on hardware

“38 percent of IT decision makers believe there would be a reduction in operational costs by enabling BYOD ” – Vanson Bourne.

› Provides new competitive advantages

“8 out of 10 IT decision makers see no competitive disadvantages to enabling BYOD.” – Vanson Bourne

 

The challenges

There are several hurdles to overcome to implement a good unified communications program that can be combined with a BYOD solution:

› A massive increase in potential attack points

“The lack of a coherent BYOD strategy led 40 per cent of respondents to admit they had faced IT problems with 71 per cent of the problems related to security breaches or viruses.” – Altodigital research.

› An increased data leak and loss potential

83% of people feel that office confidentiality is a potential threat. – Spring Technology.

Nearly half (44 per cent) of businesses in Europe dislike BYOD today or only allow it in exceptional circumstances – Oracle EMEA research.

BYOD security is increasingly becoming a priority for businesses

Putting it together

Only 18% of UK organisations have well-defined policies around mobility, yet the true power of unified communications can easily be unleashed by integrating a BYOD solution. And with so many employees already using their own devices, businesses can realise major benefits by:

› Implementing a proper BYOD strategy and corporate app policy.
› Educating staff about appropriate use and device security.
› Implementing a BYOD security solution that properly protects communications and data.
› Fully auditing personal devices.

“Thirty-nine percent of workers surveyed said that they would consider leaving if they were told that they could not use their personal mobile device for work.” – VMWare.