Do you think I'm being unreasonable?
 

Got an email from work today saying they are changing their email server, no problem so far...

I have a crappy Nokia C5 for work and my own Galaxy S3 for personal use. I set my phone up to receive work email on the S3 as it's easier to read/reply on.

Anyway, the new server is working BUT...

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Would it be unreasonable of me to tell them I won't be accepting them to have admin control of my personal phone?

My C5 is useless at email, which means I won't be contactable by email for 2/3 days every week.

Ask them to pay for you S3, then give them the admin control. :thumb:

As it is your personal phone then no you are not being unreasonable, just don't expect to have email on your personal phone anymore and use the Nokia :)

Depending upon the mail system which has been/is being installed, if its Microsoft Exchange for example, the later versions have security policies in place by default which will set certain things on your mobile, such as forcing you to enter a pin to unlock, the Administrator having the option to remote lock/wipe it etc should it get lost/stolen.

These settings can be adjusted on the mail system but depends if it's something they would want to alter anyway.

Personally, I see no reason why you should be using your own phone for work use, I certainly wouldn't/dont.

If your existing work phone is no good, and you are expected to respond to emails via a phone, then if it were me I would speak to work and explain the existing one is no good for using with email etc and ask about the possibility of getting an up to date phone.

If they don't want to do that then thats up to them. At the end of the day, if it takes you longer to respond to emails because you have been given sh!te equipment then that's their look out.

I think you're right. I don't mind using my own phone for picking up emails but if they can't change the settings, I'll ask them to provide a phone which is email friendly.

Only yesterday I got an email which if I hadn't replied we would have lost out on on 4 figure order.

As an Exchange admin, yes you are being unreasonable :p

But then if your work phone is poo, they should replace that. Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a big buzz for IT professionals at the moment - its a demand thats coming, but at the same time we have to meet legal compliance on all sorts of issues. You having your work email (and attachments downloaded) on a personal phone that your IT Dept cannot monitor/erase is a data protection risk.

You might not be that stupid, but we assume users in general are :lol1: We have to assume you will try and leave confidential data saved in the wrong places, hence we put policies in place to prevent it :)

Ahh now it makes a bit more sense! I didn't even think about attachments, customer lists being on my phone.

It makes sense for them to provide a decent smartphone and have full control.

:D

Users hey! lol We had to encrypt a load of laptops for one of our customers, a few weeks later one of the laptops got stolen and we had some remote access software installed for support purposes which we noticed had gone on line after it had been stolen - this then triggered the question how is that as the thing is encrypted and has a power on password before it even starts loading the OS.

Anyway, long story short, turns out the user of the laptop leaves their user name/password on a post-it note, stuck................... you guessed it.............. on the laptop!! lol

No helping some people.

The laptop was recovered though as we was able to pass on the IP which the laptop had connected with and in turn the police was able to speak with the relevant ISP who then passed on the address. I would have loved to see the face of the person who stole it thinking "how the hell did you know it was me?" :D

As Steve says, its perfectly reasonable for them to impose whatever security policies they choose.

It is also perfectly reasonable for you to reject those policies upon a device that belongs to you personally.

Not being too familiar with BYOD policies, I'd it a case of the security policy saying it *will* make those changes, or is it just the handset warning you that the administrator *could* make those changes, but hasn't necessarily done so?

The latter is how I understand it. Let's say I lost my work phone or left the company, then IT could in their infinite wisdom press the big red delete button and wipe my personal phone lol.

They could indeed.

However you might actually be grateful for that if you did lose it, and I believe you can always remove the account yourself to remove the imposed restrictions at any time you like. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong on that though.

The point about BYOD is that it is never compulsory for users to use their own equipment. Its all about a user deciding to opt-in, if they are happy to accept whatever policies the company dictates, and they feel that its beneficial to them to not have to carry around two phones/devices. The company benefits from saving cash on hardware if users can make use of their own devices.

So yes, it is 100% reasonable to reject the company's policies on your personal device. But that just means that you won't be able to use it for work purposes. :)

Wonder if I could string it out until October and get an iPhone5 lol

lol

This is where we could shoot ourselves (i've put my IT Admin hat on again!) in the foot. The place i work for is currently under contract with a mobile provider and have a hundred or so Blackberrys as part of that (in-house BES environment). We've then got another couple of hundred normal phones at a guess (basic Nokia's etc).

If we go all proactive and advertise BYOD, it raises peoples expectations of what they should be able to do with a phone. Those that previously didn't bother getting email to their phones suddenly think 'oooh thats a good idea, i'll have some of that'. They then read our usage policy and say "fook off".

We then get dozens of requests for the latest iphones etc, as thats the level of 'user experience' they now expect :freak3:

BYOD is becoming very big in schools to save the government a fortune in supplying devices to kids, as they are now starting to assume most kids have an idevice of sorts

True, but surely being more proactive/efficient and getting emails on the move is in the companies best interests? Time is money and all that.

Yeah, i can see why. Huge cost in supplying the devices vs a low risk due to the nature of data that would be stored on them.

Tbh, its going to a bit of a mare for the IT admins. People in general don't give a toss about confidentiality and the Data Protection Act. Policies will help, but user education is everything (this comes back to the above example about writing passwords on a post-it note on the device itself ;))

Yes, but there are secure and risky ways. A secure way would be to force all users through Outlook Web Access which can prevent the download of content to the device, but its a bit clunky on a smartphone compared to just using ActiveSync.

Time is money, yes, but clearing up data confidentiality breaches can also be expensive (depending on your business sector).

edit/ good thread btw, not often we have a sensible discussion on s/net :lol1:

This BYOD is all well and good, but who picks up the bill for the 3G/4G data? Is there a way to separate the users work data usage from their personal usage?

Don't worry, it'll soon end up with the geeky stuff in computer related :D

Another nightmare. Same as cross-charging of work calls if users end up using their personal phones for business voice calls. I expect Finance Depts everywhere aren't looking forward to this one!

More than likely :lol1:

I was always allowed to take my police Blackberry, home if I wished to. I could use it 24/7 for business purposes, but not for personal. Most of us just chucked it in our lockers as we didn't want to think about being back at work until we clocked on for the next shift. The trouble with having access is the risk that you will blur the boundary of work and rest times.

I know of a few cops who would have a third mobile number which only friends/family could get them on, so work couldn't get hold of them on rest days. :D

Is this a bad thing though? There's been a big shift towards more flexible working in recent years - flexi-time, work from home etc. I'd say the boundary between work/rest times are already blurred, but most think this is good rather than bad as it offers them benefits around flexibility (avoiding rush hour travel, managing school runs etc).

I can understand it with the police, but with your typical office worker, its not a problem imo.

And based on that, sleep time. My flexible hours mean i have to be at my desk in just over 8 hours :lol1:

Any real problems with BYOD should be sorted the IT bods. It's what's going "down". And that's what they're paid to sort out - to support the users who really use this kit.

Signed


A. User.


:D

BYOD will increase people working hours.. My wife works from home 2 days a week and Can access her emails through her phone. We were at Alton towers and it bleeps.. Someone sent her an email that she replied to ... I don't mind and and she doesn't mind but some of her team work while on proper holidays. - At first they expected her to do the same and when she was like, no no no they realised most people have lives...

i believe VW in Germany, always way ahead of us in these matters, block all emails and calls to work phones after 6.30pm

Frickin users, glad i don't work in support :lol1: (my role is infrastructure systems & project management). However, you talk about getting support. Does BYOD mean that an IT Dept have to support users on their own equipment? Tbh it'll only be on a best endeavours basis - IT teams can't be skilled on every device on the market and can make limited changes to devices they don't control.

More and more organisations will probably turn to this approach, as HR departments start to raise eyebrows about people working extended hours. What happens when Joe Bloggs says he was on the phone/dealing with emails all evening from home, then tries to claim overtime for it?

Using your own device for the business you are employed by won't work.
Too many complications as mentioned above - usage, personal/business calls.
Handing out your personal number to a customer etc.

See thats why IT guys are clueles about when staff need, they assume they know whats needed and assume the staff don't know what there talking about, assumption is the mother of all f**k ups!

IT departments need to get there head in gear, they are a support organisation/department, not a front line department.









p.s. yes this is a wind up and i wonder how many people will comment without reading this disclaimer lol

I agree entirely. But the problem is, CEOs/Directors etc see the benefits of it (measurable cost savings on equipment) without necessarily understanding the issues it creates (and the hidden costs of putting such a plan in place - time, support, risk etc). The industry is starting to adopt BYOD at a fairly rapid rate, so there's not a lot we can do to stop it. We have to respond by considering these issues and implementing the necessary policies and control. Sure, it won't fit every organisation and businesses that require tightly controlled data might slam the door shut on the idea, but the trend is growing....

Screw you :lol1: