How can we keep data secure and protected while allowing employees to work on whatever device makes them most productive? This is a topic that is top of mind for many IT departments as mobile devices and Macs infiltrate the enterprise, and something I discussed in an article featured on Wired.com and Wired’s Innovation Insights.
A decade ago, most enterprises could support PCs and essentially ignore everything else. IT’s job was to maintain a secure network and any software or hardware being used only had to be compatible with one type of machine. Now, the ratio of PCs sold to Macs is steadily declining and 81 percent of employees are using personal devices at work. IT teams have to support increasingly diverse platforms, whether employees are using PCs, Macs, smartphones or tablet computers.
It’s also likely that a lot of workers are using multiple devices for projects. An employee can start something on a laptop, transfer it to an iPad, and email it through a smartphone. For IT, the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) movement can be a headache, because it’s so difficult to track activity from all of these new devices. Confidential company data can travel outside the office and IT may not even know about it. Since employees are mixing personal and professional with most mobile devices, that makes it that much easier for information to be leaked if mobile devices are hacked or stolen.
IT’s major problem is that employees demand a seamless, easy-to-use experience when working across platforms. And, if IT doesn’t deliver, workers will often use unsecured, third-party solutions to accomplish working in the most productive way possible for them. So, how can IT ensure employees can work their best while keeping data secure, yet accessible across an increasing variety of devices and operating systems?
Check out my full article on Wired, IT Wants to Know: How Do You Work Best?, to learn how IT can seamlessly integrate BYOD into their IT policies to ensure the highest level of data protection while still giving employees the connectivity and flexibility they have come to expect.
About Acronis
Acronis is a Swiss company, founded in Singapore. Celebrating two decades of innovation, Acronis has more than 1,800 employees in 45 locations. The Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud solution is available in 26 languages in over 150 countries and is used by 20,000 service providers to protect over 750,000 businesses.
