It’s a BYOD (bring your own device) world

Amid all the Hollywood-style hype and paparazzi surrounding the iPhone 4, it’s a wonder BP and others have managed to steal a few columns of coverage.

Though I’m guilty of being part of the “paparazzi” in my own coverage, I’m trying to keep an eye on the “bigger picture” of what a nightmare this can really become for network administrators and IT folks who will have no clue — no visibility — into how many of the 600,000 or so iPhones purchased around the country and world will be connecting to their networks. These enterprises are very important customers, of course, to the world’s service providers, and so it will be interesting to see how the security card gets played. The AT&Ts of the world would drive more data revenues if iPhones became as popular as BlackBerry devices, but is that viable in the near term?

As I said earlier this week, IT remains wary of managing large numbers of iPhone users in enterprise environments. In some places, they have lost control in a sense, as many business users have locked away corporate-issued BlackBerrys in favor of iPhones they purchase themselves.

Increasingly, business users are willing to bear the device and data costs if they can just get permission to access corporate e-mail, as well as corporate data and business applications IT pushes out.

“Enterprises need control to ‘wipe’ e-mails or lock devices or change passwords so that corporate data, calendars and address books aren’t accessed by rogue users if devices are jeopardized, ‘jail-broken’ or hacked. Simultaneously, they have to be able to leave users’ personal information, photos and data untouched. It’s a delicate balance,” said Julie Palen, senior vice president of mobile device management for Tangoe, an enterprise communications lifecycle management company working with the likes of IBM, Deutsche, Wells Fargo, Wachovia, and other large entities concerned about security and privacy.

While the configuration of profiles, provisioning and setup is improving with each iteration of smartphone, added layers of management are needed. “Companies realize that extra layers of security are necessary because the cost of securely managing ‘naked’ devices is far less than what is lost when there is a security breach — in terms of money and in terms of reputation; it can be devastating,” Palen said.

While corporations and enterprises of all types try to achieve some level of control and security through controls provided by the operating system (OS) manufacturers (e.g., Apple, Google, etc.), as well as through phone synchronization technology like ActiveSync, an extra “layer” of management (beyond remote locks, wipes and password resets) may ultimately be needed. Whether developed in house or purchased from multi-OS mobile device management software providers will depend on the sense of urgency.

“Within the next five years, companies will have to do what it takes and spend more money to give business people what they want to be productive and innovative, without the IT guys stifling them with a ‘no’ because they can’t figure out how to control or manage different devices,” Palen said.

Most network administrators want solutions that help them centrally manage all device types so there is control at a baseline level, rather than having to go to different places to support different environments. But whether the majority of enterprises will step up to pay for that capability will depend on how many high-profile breaches there are, as most are of course kept quiet because they don’t play well with stockholders or customers.

Even without privacy or security as a consideration, companies lose considerable money on equipment and data plans they purchase only to lie dormant. “So many companies pay for smart devices and expensive plans, but cannot detect if the device is active or not or if it’s used regularly for e-mail or not. If you’re paying $150 per month for devices that aren’t being used, why not allow the business users willing to foot the bill access to what they need to be productive?” Palen asked, reiterating that the money wasted on dormant phones could go into better controls for the phones actually being used.

As iPhones break into enterprise environments, as well as Androids and others, the time will come for administrators to do what’s necessary to support diverse environments; after all it’s a BYOD world, where people want their preferences and desires accommodated.