Three Pitfalls of BYOD and One New Answer

There are still many advantages to centralized purchasing and provisioning, both financial and operational. On the other hand, every business needs the ability to extend access to a personal device in some cases: employee onboarding, business continuity, or contract workers, for example. Some employees want the option and convenience of accessing business apps using their home computer. Balancing the competing concerns of information security, IT operations, and user privacy is no small task—as is evident from the mixed results of BYOD in practice.

BYOD initiatives often stumble when they hit one or more of these three pitfalls: 

1. Un-Managed Devices
   The most common barrier to any BYOD program is the very real concern of unmanaged devices connecting to critical applications housing sensitive data. Putting sensitive data on devices where you have no visibility or management is a huge risk. The natural solution is to install an endpoint management agent, which solves one problem but creates another.
   
   
2. User Rejection
   Ask the average user to install an endpoint management agent on their personal device and you’ll be met with some (well deserved) skepticism. What data can the agent see? Are my personal email, documents, and photos visible? Is all my personal web browsing being logged? Concerns over user privacy are real and users shouldn’t have to trade their privacy for BYOD flexibility. Instead, we can deploy a virtualized desktop and manage that layer. Problems #1 and #2 are solved, but at what cost?
   
   
3. IT Operational Cost
   Desktop Virtualization seems appealing for allowing users to leverage their own devices, because it answers some of the security questions without intruding on user privacy. But that technology comes with a steep price tag, both in licensing cost and operations staff to manage it. For remote users on less-than-ideal networks, the user experience of DaaS can be painful. Now you’re adding extra help desk calls on top of an already costly solution. What if we could get all the benefits of a managed, secure, and isolated platform without the high costs of VDI or DaaS? 

Now we can solve all three with Island, The Enterprise Browser. 

First, the Enterprise Browser eliminates the need for a system-level endpoint agent on a personal device. By enforcing security and management policies in the browser itself, all critical web apps and data are secure. Last-mile controls keep data in the browser, stopping data leakage and keeping business and personal data separate. Users keep their personal privacy and you get the security controls you need. No endpoint management agent required. 

Next, the Enterprise Browser eliminates the need for DaaS or legacy VDI. On top of the security controls mentioned above, the Enterprise Browser protects against web-based browser exploits, phishing scams, man-in-the-middle attacks, malware, and more. Instead of adding multiple security agents, or virtualizing the desktop and all its apps, The Enterprise Browser addresses the root cause of web vulnerabilities: the web browser itself. You get more granular control and visibility than with VDI or DaaS, without the cost and complexity. 

Last, the Enterprise Browser is already familiar to users. It’s based on Chromium, the same as Chrome, Edge, and other modern web browsers. The user interface is the same and every web app functions exactly as expected. And unlike DaaS, it’s running locally on their computer, so performance is excellent. 

The Island Enterprise Browser is a unique approach that resolves several common problems that hold back BYOD. To learn more about how Island can deliver a better BYOD experience, contact us. 

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