BYOD wasn’t tackled in a day - start with the fundamentals

Faced with the enormous challenge of supporting user-owned devices, many service desks are choosing instead to ignore this vital issue.  Richmond Systems urges support teams to start with the basics - the solutions may be easier to find than you think.


The hype around BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) has failed to sufficiently warn businesses about the perils of lost or stolen smartphones, with research from Sophos finding 42 per cent of missing handsets used for business purposes lacking protection against unauthorised access.  The study found that that 20 per cent of lost and unprotected devices contained open access to work email, with 10 per cent containing corporate credit card details and PINs.  

Speaking to Richmond customers, it’s clear that supporting and managing BYOD is a major headache and, as this research shows, many are choosing to ignore the issue.  But far from being an insurmountable problem, there are simple steps that can be taken to accommodate BYOD while safeguarding your IT infrastructure. 

The providers of the two most popular mobile platforms, Android and iOS, already provide free tools for corporates to exploit for common functions such as password-protection and remote wiping.   Apple has released detailed info about securing iOS devices here, Google provides similar documentation for securing Android devices for business here.

BYOD is a huge challenge, representing the biggest change to how IT is procured, delivered and supported since PCs replaced mainframes.  It is the speed and scale of change that is causing such panic, with many service desks we talk to admitting they are unable to accommodate the apparent complexity of supporting an expanded product range.  Our advice is to stop worrying about the long game - trying to fix BYOD overnight is unrealistic and will cause undue stress.  Rather than succumb to this fear, start with the fundamentals, such as securing devices by using the tools available.  

If you need help with BYOD or indeed have other IT support concerns, please get in touch.  Richmond Systems has delivered the best value asset and IT service desk solutions for almost 20 years and so we’re qualified to help you meet your IT support challenges.