The BYOD approach has worked for multiple sectors, and recently government agencies have taken an interest in promoting personal device use. However, there are issues that federal organizations have to contend with to make BYOD feasible, such as security and deployment. In addition, employees or department managers might not realize the advantages of BYOD.
According to information from Forrester Research cited by FEDWeek, 66 percent of government worker respondent to a survey about online habits said they were concerned about government programs that allowed employees to use their own personal computers at work.
On a broader scale, a separate study from Forrester found last month that only 35 percent of "online adults" believe their data is safe in government hands on the web. Clearly, data safety is a key part of how a government BYOD initiative will be perceived both inside and outside an organization.
Though she doesn't talk specifically about government clouds, Chloe Green of Information Age cites data from Kroll Ontrack on the proper way to manage devices, which may also apply to these federal organizations as they expand their own IT programs.
"As the IT team connects personal devices to the company network, they should also keep a record of the user and their device details," she writes. "By maintaining a detailed register, companies can audit their company network regularly to detect unauthorized connections and resource usage."
For government IT teams, an IT modernization solution that functions like a web link transforms problematic access to easy access. Applications are easier to understand and organize on mobile devices with a web based terminal emulator, leaving managers able to address security concerns in a cleaner environment. This may in turn remove some of the dangers of BYOD and allow organizations benefit from the advantages without the hazards.