BYOD devices improve IT

WGP 13May15 -

Wanganui District Council was one of the first councils in New Zealand to introduce Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) into the workforce - something my team and myself are really proud of.

For a small council, we're really going places. If your business doesn't have BYOD not only are you opening your business to security breaches, you're probably not getting the best out of your staff.

BYOD allows staff and contractors to connect their own devices into the network safely and work remotely and independently in the field. We've had excellent uptake with more than 70 per cent of our staff using mobile working.

With secure mobile solutions, staff can gain access to important information in the field, and record data straight into the network. So who better to pilot the scheme than our frontline staff in parks and reserves?

Frontline staff include animal control officers, building inspectors, road engineers, environmental health officers and parking officers. They can now work more efficiently in the field and access data and information that may affect how they carry that job out. For managers, productivity has increased and, with data being entered on the spot, there is less chance of error.

For the techies - the software we used was highly secure enterprise-grade mobility tools, Citrix ShareFile and Citrix Workspace Suite, deployed by Spark Digital.

Just about every new staff member and contractor will have their own smartphone or tablet. The question for an organisation is whether you allow staff and contractors to use their own smartphones or whether you require them to use "work devices" only. With regard to contractors, this simply isn't practical.

The issue is: do you allow unfettered access by allowing anybody and any device access to your network? Of course not, as this will expose your organisation to a serious threat - though it happens frequently in many organisations.

Android devices can run java script (a web-based programming language) that can seriously compromise your environment by allowing other code to execute on the device.

The code can do good things, but it can also do bad things. One reason Wanganui District Council uses iPads and iPhones instead of android devices is the inherent security which limits the threat to the organisation.

With BYOD, staff and contractors download software on to their personal device that allows them to access the network systems in a safe and secure environment, and without compromising the security of our information.