AM Exclusive Technicity Newsletter Issue 6 | Page 3

TIPS TO MITIGATE THE
CHALLENGES OF SUPPORTING
4EMPLOYEE-OWNED DEVICES
While some
companies have
had the funds to
provide their new
home workers with
company-certified equipment,
most did not. The challenges
already being experienced with
the BYOD trend have been put on
hyperdrive. How far should you
go in supporting employee-owned
equipment?
Here are some tips for defining the
line:
#1 SET A LIMIT ON WHAT IS
SUPPORTED
Old operating systems and devices
with limited warranties make it
much more challenging to resolve
issues when they arise, as well as
opening up security vulnerabilities.
The company should allow only
devices that include, for example,
Windows 10 with a three-year
warranty. The warranty, at a
minimum, should match whatever
has been the company standard.
#2 REQUIRE USERS TO
IMPLEMENT ANTIVIRUS AND
ANTIMALWARE SOFTWARE
You should also require users
to keep current with Windows
updates, so their equipment must
have the minimum technology to
be able to utilize tools to automate
the process.
#3 PROVIDE RECOMMENDED
EQUIPMENT TO PURCHASE
Once you set a limit, not all
employees are going to have
equipment that meets company
standards. To address this, you can
have a preset list of options they
can choose from if their current
setup does not meet the minimum
requirements and, depending upon
company funds, perhaps subsidize
the amount they need to pay to
upgrade.
#4 IMPLEMENT A CENTRALIZED
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM THAT
CAN ENFORCE COMPANY
POLICIES
A system such as this will enforce
the organizational policies
you put in place—like blocking
malicious websites and traffic
from other countries; and limiting
social media, online shopping, or
online gaming—increasing your
company’s layers of defense
against cybercrime. If your
company has to adhere to any
compliance standards, this is even
more important. An article from
Compliance Week says it best:
Can you imagine being the internal
auditor and going to your board
of directors and saying, ‘Well,
I can provide evidence that we
have compliance on these rigorous
data protections and intellectual
property protection policies that
you set on 60 percent of our
devices. The other 40 percent? We
have no clue.
If you are struggling to
implement best practices,
A M Exclusive can help!
We have designed our
Home User Help Desk &
Protection Program to
assist IT Departments. For
more information, visit
amexclusive.com/homeuser-plan
or call 718-845-
2828 ext. 3 to schedule a
conversation with one of our
Senior IT Engineers.