![\"Barry](\"http:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/Barry-Gill.jpg\" "\\"Barry")
<\/a>Barry Gill, Mimecast Enterprise Director<\/p><\/div>\n
Instead of choosing to ignore the workforce\u2019s desire to use new and intuitive devices to drive process efficiency, CIOs should instead focus on updating internal security profiles and corporate governance to accommodate the demand.<\/p>\n
Key to this is basic understanding. Any organisation considering the empowerment of its staff through an open hardware policy should take the time to understand these new innovations and the hazards they may carry.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, executives should ensure that this strategy allows for the education of staff with regards to the risks they could potentially be exposed to when using a mobile device to access corporate information. This includes scheduling regular user feedback sessions during which employees are able to communicate their concerns and desires.<\/p>\n
In doing so, an organisation can ensure that its workforce is aware of risk areas and device trends while proactively responding to changes in behaviour and need.<\/p>\n
Finally, it is vital that IT decision makers implement security policy which profiles employees and awards them the use of their own devices according to the sensitivity of the material that they access.<\/p>\n
If an employee regularly interfaces with business process and financial information that is essential to the continued success of the organisation then it is acceptable to require them to meet certain criteria, such as remote access and an encrypted application environment before granting admission.<\/p>\n
When coupled with a security policy that integrates security features such as location-based positioning and remote wipe, the concept of \u2018Bring Your Own Device\u2019 becomes far less foreign and more centrally controlled. With these factors in place, IT executives can rest assured that the organisation\u2019s risk profile has been minimised.<\/p>\n
In the same way science fiction has inspired thought and openness toward new ideas, so the consumerisation of IT and \u2018Bring Your Own Device\u2019 have the potential to act as indications of what to expect in years to come.<\/p>\n
\u2018Disruptive\u2019 innovations are far less unsettling when organisations adopt a flexible attitude towards technology.<\/p>\n
As the great science fiction novelist and thinker, Isaac Asimov, once noted;<\/p>\n
\u201cIf knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them.\u201d<\/p>\n
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