The concept of BYOD (bring your own device) is becoming increasingly popular and is quickly becoming widespread across many organisations. According to a Cisco Technology Report, the desire for maximum flexibility in how, where and when employees carry out their jobs is growing thus pointing companies in the BYOD direction.

Recent Cisco research estimates that data traffic generated via mobile devices will grow by approximately 26 times in the next five years.

The adoption of BYOD has traditionally been equated with headaches for many IT departments. Although there are many advantages associated with BYOD (such as giving the users freedom in the choice of equipment, time and place of access) potential security and network management issues may arise. This is due to the fact that in order for an employee to use a device for both personal and professional use, the employee should be able to operate under different security policies.

An integrated technology solution should offer BYOD network access in any form which is wired, Wi-Fi, remote and mobile with simultaneous application of security policies and confidentiality. Furthermore, when the device user connects to a professional Wi-Fi network in a public 3G/4G mobile network, the BYOD should provide maximum security while maintaining the same user experience.

Cisco provides a technological solution for a BOYD scenario and this will be discussed during a half-day seminar on Cisco wireless solutions organised by Computime in conjunction with their Cisco Partner on Thursday June 6 in Sliema.

For more information visit www.computime.com.mt. Registration is free of charge.