Bring your own device (BYOD). It is here. It is a business reality. It is going to stay. Companies such as Microsoft (News - Alert) are taking note.
Roughly 62 percent of companies will have a bring your own device (BYOD) program in place by the end of the year, as we reported earlier this year.
Thankfully, BYOD is a boon for businesses if they get it right. An iPass (News - Alert) survey showed that employees who use mobile devices for both work and personal use put in 240 more hours per year than those who do not. Further, Intel found that its own 17,000 employees increased their productivity by an average of 57 minutes per day after the company installed a BYOD program in 2011.
Manufacturers are taking notice, including Microsoft -- the new Windows 8.1 release will include a lot more support for BYOD.
With the release of Windows 8.1, there will be a management agent that supports the open OMA-DM standard and the Simple Certificate Enrolment Protocol (SCEP that Apple (News - Alert) uses for iOS management). The agent will be within Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1, which will make it possible to manage the systems through the same software, and in many cases with the same policies, according to TechRadar.
The agent built into the OS will allow the changing of some settings in Windows, although Microsoft hasn't yet revealed which ones. But it should be possible to distribute wireless and virtual private network settings, including the certificates needed for virtual private network connections, through the new agent. There will also be a function to run reports on which devices are connecting, and whether they have up-to-date anti-virus software and the latest Windows updates.
“If a business has apps that it wants its employees to use, such as an expenses reporting tool, it will not have to go through the Windows Store but can sideload them into Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1 devices and send out any updates,” noted TechRadar.
Further, businesses that use Active Directory can use it to manage 8.1 systems at two levels. First, with the new OS it is possible to place a certificate on a device to control access to company resources. Second, businesses will now be able to allow users to register their device with Active Directory through the new Workplace Join feature in PC Settings.
Workplace Join works with iOS devices and will support Android (News - Alert) in time. When used in conjunction with Windows Server 2012 R2, it is also possible to make file sharing on a server available over a secure HTTPS connection, so users can sync files through the Work Folders function to their devices and save them back to the server when they're on the road. A limitation with Work Folders is that everything has to be synced instead of being able to choosing which files to copy to a device, however.
Unlike Active Directory, which makes it possible to apply group policy to control almost every setting on PCs owned by a company, Workplace Join doesn't provide for the control of any settings. For that, users have to allow the PC Settings function to turn on the built-in MDM agent.
This functionality allows better mobile device management support, a level of support in line with what’s already in place for most smartphones and tablets.
BYOD is here to stay, and companies are taking notice.
Edited by Rachel Ramsey