Do Personal Apps Belong At Work? What Employers Should Know Before Making Policy Decisions

Key takeaways:

• Businesses face a complex challenge: How to manage employees’ access to and use of personal apps, especially on personal mobile devices 
• Managing mobile device access requires an overall program that includes policy, enforcement tools, and employee communication and engagement
• Contextual mobility management (CMM) software, combined with a thoughtful company program, can help an organization find a balance between safety, productivity and worker satisfaction

Restricting access to personal applications and features on mobile and portable devices isn’t a new concept. In fact, companies have been managing employee access to device tools for decades, pre-dating the arrival of the smartphone.

On desktop and laptop computers, IT departments can block access to certain URLs or disable the ability to download software to the computer. IT can also control access to the company network through the use of passwords.

But now that employees are performing the same tasks on a mobile device that were once limited to a computer, without relying on the company network, managing access and usage is a more complicated challenge for an organization’s IT department. After all, they can’t control the cellular network – and that’s pervasive. It may seem like an organization’s only option is to provide a corporate device and lock it down at all times to control what happens on an employee’s phone at work.