News Round-Up 5/24/13: DOD Approval for iOS 6, Steve Jobs' thoughts on CIOs, BYOD helps improve student learning

Apple iOS 6 Wins DOD Approval

The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has approved the use of Apple iOS 6 on the Department of Defense's networks. Devices running the latest version of Apple's operating system join BlackBerrys and Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets, which recently got the green light from the DOD.

Here's what Steve Jobs thought of CIOs

JP Rangaswami is the chief scientist of Salesforce, but about a decade ago he was the CIO of Dresdner Kleinwort, an investment bank. At a panel on the social enterprise at the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium yesterday, he told an interesting anecdote about Steve Jobs that shows how the former Apple chief viewed the enterprise.

How BYOD helped a school district and its 14,000 students improve learning

The BYOD movement in Cincinnati's Kenton County School District started by accident, but it has turned out to be a huge motivator for the education of the district's 14,000 students.

Department of Sustainability goes BYOD

When a government minister says to an incoming CIO, “I want to connect my iPad to the network”, the answer has to be yes, right?

How Tablets Help Autistic Adults Enter Workforce

With businesses becoming more mobile, Shore believes the mobile landscape is something for autistic individuals to explore, especially when there are more adults with autism. In addition, a greater percentage of these adults are able to work, specifically because issues were addressed when the individuals were children. The next generation is being assisted with the help of the iPad and an abundance of apps. 

Top 3 Habits for Highly Effective BYOD

Currently, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a trend that employees can choose to participate in.  However, Gartner predicts that by 2017, 50% of companies will demand BYOD.  Whether an employee participates in BYOD voluntarily or not, it’s important for them to know how to get the most out of BYOD.  Forbes contributor Adrian Kingsley-Hughes recently shared his habits for highly effective BYOD. Looking at his article, our top three habits to keep in mind are: 

1. 1.  Keep roles separate

The more personal devices are used for work, the greater the importance of keeping their work roles separate from the device’s personal uses becomes.  One example of this is app organization— keeping business-related apps separate from personal-use ones, which can also be done with emails, photos, and documents.

1. 2.  Harness the cloud

Cloud services help unite devices and expand their performance and storage capabilities.  If cloud policy isn’t already laid out in a company’s BYOD policy, it’s worth looking into some cloud services that can help keep devices in sync and save time and hassle.

1. 3.  Have the right apps for the job

BYOD is about increased productivity, and one of the ways to be more productive is to have the right apps for the job.  With the seemingly endless amount of apps currently available, it can be difficult to pick the best ones. We recommend doing some research or asking coworkers about the most helpful apps.

Lots of companies are challenged by the growing demand to support BYOD.  Many Windows-centric businesses use Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2007/2012 to manage their PCs, but need a simple and cost-effective way to also manage the Macs and iPads employees want.  Today employees can help make BYOD a reality by letting their CIO and IT department know about the Parallels Management Suite plugin for SCCM which extends its capabilities to also manage Macs today and soon iPads, iPhones and Android devices too. 

Do you think these suggestions are helpful? Are there other habits from his list or your own that you think should be in the top 3?

BYOD Tip: Preventing tablet time-wasting in the workplace

One of the biggest drivers for the popularity of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is increased productivity, but employers want to make sure that devices are focused on driving productivity rather than time-wasting.  TabTimes recently came out with a list of five ways that businesses can help ensure that tablets are staying on task. Take a look and decide for yourself if you think these tactics would help in your workplace.

1. 1. Whitelist/blacklist apps (Just leave the Parallels Mobile app on the good list!)

For companies that allow employees to use third-party applications along with their own business apps, one approach to managing device-use is whitelisting and blacklisting apps.  This involves allowing access to certain apps and blocking others, and can help restrict apps that may be harmful in terms of productivity or security.

1. 2. Restrict access to app stores

Another way to restrict unnecessary apps is by cutting them off at the source by blocking access to the Apple App Store.  Management solutions are also available that allow access to third-party app stores but block in-app purchases.

1. 3. Disable data roaming

A somewhat trickier solution is disabling data roaming.  On the one hand, data roaming can become costly and it’s not always clear how that data is being used.  On the other hand, with data roaming employees are able to take full advantage of most apps and perform tasks reliant on connectivity. 

1. 4. Manage how/ which apps are used

An alternative to blocking an app completely is managing the use of that app.  Some management solutions log info such as web history, device photos, and app use and allow approved users to login and view that device information.

1. 5. Restrict device use to just one app

The strictest solution for ensuring proper device usage involves setting the device to only run one app altogether.  This “kiosk” mode solution is normally best suited for retailer, hospitality, and education environments.

What do you think: are these suggestions too harsh? Does your company do these for BYOD iPads? If so, are such measures reducing BYOD participation, or having no effect?

BYOD and Mobile Security

To shed some light on the growing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend, Holger Schulze's Information Security Community group on LinkedIn, the world’s largest community of information security professionals, recently released the 2013 BYOD & Mobile Security Report.  The report, based on an April 2013 survey of more than 1,600 information security professionals, focuses on what drives companies’ BYOD adoption, how they will benefit, and how they address the security risks of BYOD. 

The following are some highlights from the report, including the top five trends and concerns in mobile and BYOD security:

1. The number one benefit of BYOD is greater employee satisfaction and productivity.

The top three drivers for BYOD adoption within companies are all related to employee happiness and productivity—greater employee satisfaction tops the list (55 percent), followed by improved employee mobility (54 percent) and increased employee productivity (51 percent).

At the same time, employee productivity comes in second in regards to success criteria for BYOD deployments.  Seventy percent of organizations said that maintaining security is the number one most important criterion for success.

2. There is much concern in Enterprise over data loss and unauthorized access to data.

The main security concerns in relation to BYOD are loss of company or client data, unauthorized access to company data and systems, and fear of malware infections.

3. Encryption is the most used risk control measure for mobile devices.

To help address security issues, encryption is the most used risk control measure, with 40 percent of companies requiring mandatory use of encryption for mobile devices.  34 percent of organizations have no risk control measures at all.

4. The biggest impact of mobile security threats is the need for additional IT resources to manage them.

When it comes to the negative impact of mobile threats, the biggest impact wasn’t in data loss or theft or malware infections but in additional IT resources needed to manage mobile security.  The rise of mobile devices in the enterprise is requiring more staff and tools to oversee them.

5. The most popular business apps are email, calendar and contact management. Apple (iOS) is the most popular BYOD platform.

It probably comes as no surprise that iOS was the most popular mobile platform for BYOD among the respondents, with 72 percent.  Email, calendar, and contact management were the most popular business applications among 85 percent of respondents.

Do any of the report findings stand out to you? Do you think this survey accurately represents views towards BYOD in the enterprise?

Watch Session Videos from Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) 2013, Including How to Manage Macs, iPads and iPhones with Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager 2007/2012

Were you unable to join us at Microsoft Management Summit (MMS) 2013 or did you miss out on any of the sessions? Not to worry. Videos of all MMS 2013 sessions are now available On Demand, including the Parallels breakout session: “Managing your Macs, iPads and iPhones just like you manage your Windows PCs with System Center 2007/2012.”

With the new Parallels Management Suite for System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM), SCCM 2007/2012 management can be extended to incorporate Macs and iOS devices into existing Windows infrastructure, tools and skills.  In the breakout session, Parallels demos the Mac management plug-in for SCCM, previews iPad and iPhone management capabilities, and describes the architecture required to bring this functionality to Apple devices.

About MMS: The Microsoft Management Summit brings together the brightest IT professionals from around the world to increase their technical expertise through deep hands-on training, best-practice sharing, and interaction with innovators in desktop, device, and datacenter management.