BYOD more manageable, but challenges remain: Red Hat

The pains around BYOD may have subsided, but Red Hat has seen them shift into a new realm instead.

A/NZ platform services and pre-sales senior manager, Colin McCabe, said the need to secure data on BYOD has also led to organisations to address other questions.

“One of those is how to keep the data integrity if an employee leaves, loses a device or has it stolen,” he said.

“Another is how to ensure that the value of what has been created in terms of data and content doesn’t get lost.”

McCabe said one response to these questions has been the rise in corporate object stores.

“Much like Dropbox, organisations are putting services in place to act as the ‘my documents’ folder, encrypted and stored as a Cloud drive,” he said.

“This addresses many of those other data security and productivity issues.”

More than handsets

Smartphones are credited as starting the BYOD movement in recent years, though that trend has now expanded to non-smartphone devices.

McCabe points out this is not a new issue, as people having been “dialling in” to corporate networks since the days of dial-up modems.

“Everything from home devices through to tablets on the move and third party outsourcers now connect,” he said.

The key concern for businesses remains security, in particular ensuring that all devices are up to corporate standards.

As time goes on, McCabe said this has become less possible and the “castle defences” need to be stronger.

“Organisations who do not put in strict SELinux style EAL4+ security are not doing the best thing for their shareholders,” he said.

Patrick Budmar covers consumer and enterprise technology breaking news for IDG Communications. Follow Patrick on Twitter at @patrick_budmar.