Over 50 senior IT managers and decision makers gathered to attend the ‘User Centric IT’ event, hosted by leading local IT solution integrators, Kinetix. The event addressed the latest in people centric IT and the importance of device management, support and security at the workplace.
The company said the ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) trend has brought user centric IT to the forefront. The influx of mobile devices has put a new spin on device management and has brought to light several security and compliance issues that may leave an organisation ‘exposed’ if not addressed effectively.
Aptly named ‘User Centric IT’, the event sought to shed light on the business benefits of the BYOD trend while addressing the challenges that come along with enabling user centric IT. Today, work happens on the go. For users, the flexibility that comes with mobile devices is incredibly useful and beneficial but for IT managers it poses another challenge. It means they need to manage any sort of device anytime, anywhere. An organisation is therefore faced with two options: to have stringent policies and deny user independence which will result in employee resentment and higher attrition; or give the users complete freedom and flexibility while maintaining control at the core of the company.
The event, organised in collaboration with Microsoft Malta, put forward technical solutions available to businesses to allow them to manage and support user devices without compromising security or compliance issues.
“It is an unstoppable trend; employees are bringing their own mobile devices to work and using them for business purposes. While that may be great for productivity, the influx of personal smartphones, tablets and even laptops in the workplace can pose a significant risk to your organisation’s security if you don’t have an appropriate strategy in place,” said Curt Gauci, director and co-founder of Kinetix IT Solutions.
“The question business owners should ask themselves is: Is my company prepared to manage the risks introduced by the BYOD trend?”
“Users want to use the device of their choice and have access to both their personal and work-related applications, data and resources. They also want an easy way to be able to access their corporate applications from anywhere. Mobility is key,” said Jonathan Vella, partner technology strategist at Microsoft Malta, during his presentation.
“On the other hand, while IT wants to empower users to work this way, they also need to implement measures to control access to sensitive information and remain in compliance with regulatory policies.”
‘User Centric IT’ is the third in a series of events branded ‘in the know with Kinetix’ which the company launched this year. The events are targeted at business owners and IT managers and are aimed at demonstrating the business benefit of the implementing integrated IT systems.
Kinetix are HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Kerio, Trend Micro and Symantec certified partners.
www.kinetix.com.mt