A Bring Your Own Device work environment is exactly what it sounds like – you use your iPhone, iPad, or MacBook to also tackle whatever work responsibilities you may have. Whether it’s answering emails, keeping up with your team over messaging, or leveraging work-specific apps, with BYOD you aren’t restricted to performing work tasks only at the office or through your work device.
However, it’s understandable that you may have some reservations when it comes to both security and privacy when you use a Bring Your Own Device workflow in a professional environment. While Apple has designed its devices with a high baseline of security, a work environment can often require even stricter standards – ones that devices set up for personal use may not meet. Likewise, our Apple devices store some of our most important, private information. It makes sense that you’d want your professional and personal data separate and secure when using BYOD.
Luckily, there is an easy solution. When your company utilizes a leading Apple-specific MDM such as Mosyle to manage their Apple devices, they can also employ a method that’s native and exclusive to the Apple platform, the Bring Your Own Device function known as User Enrollment. This BYOD method allows employees to enroll their personal Apple devices into the company’s Apple-only MDM solution to manage certain aspects of the device in order to make it work compatible while keeping a clear separation between the device’s personal and work data and increasing the overall security of the device.
And here’s the best thing: Apple’s native and exclusive BYOD solution called User Enrollment is present and ready for use in all iPhones and iPad devices running iOS 13 or later. So, chances are your device is already prepared for User Enrollment and you didn’t even know it.
Not yet sure about whether you want to Bring Your Own Device to work? Here are three specific ways that Apple’s Native BYOD User Enrollment process keeps your personal device safe for work use when your company leverages User Enrollment:
1. Work Data Separation and Encryption
One of the first concerns you may have when engaging with a Bring Your Own Device scenario is exactly how separate your work data is going to be from all of the other personal data you have on your Apple device. It’s a valid concern, as mixing your work and personal data could present security risks. Luckily, Apple has you covered in that regard.
When your personal device is managed through a leading Apple-specific MDM using the BYOD method, an entirely separate volume is created on your device. This volume is fully encrypted and separate from the rest of the device, and this is where all of your work data lives, including any managed third-party apps, iCloud Drive documents, and work-related Notes. This encrypted volume not only separates all your personal data from your work data, but also keeps that work data secure.
Additionally, the work data stored on that encrypted volume can be remotely wiped by your company’s IT team should the need arise, without having to wipe your device or delete any of your data. This will only remove anything installed on that separate volume. That includes managed work apps, your work keychain, and any other work data managed by your company. This means that if you’re utilizing BYOD and you move into a new job, all you need to do is to delete your work account on your iPhone (or your employer can do it remotely) and all the work data is gone, ready for that process start over once you start with your new employer.
2. Controlled Access
When using BYOD, it’s important that you feel comfortable knowing that your company only has certain capabilities in managing your personal Apple device. Apple has made sure that your system admin can only manage the accounts, settings, and information created through your organization. With that in mind, here’s a list of exactly what your IT team can do:
- Configure work-created accounts
- Access inventory of work apps
- Remove only work-managed data
- Install and configure work apps
- Require a Passcode
- Enforce limited restrictions
- Configure Per-app VPN
Because of the separate encrypted volume, your company has zero access to any personal information, usage data, or anything else on the device’s main hard drive or created with your personal Apple ID. Beyond that, your company can never access the device’s location, see any personal apps, or remotely wipe the entire device, among other things. All of this allows you to rest assured that your personal Apple device is still your own, even when used at work.
3. Automated Remote Configuration
On top of Apple’s BYOD specific security features, having your personal device enrolled into your company’s Apple-only MDM grants a number of general security features and convenient benefits.
Your IT team can quickly deploy work apps directly to your personal Apple devices without any input necessary on your end, as well as always keeping them up to date.
Beyond just apps, BYOD allows your IT team to remotely deploy certain configurations to your Apple device, which can do anything from providing your device with Wi-Fi credentials, configuring VPN or even deploying work Calendars and configuring Mail. These configurations will bring a lot of convenience as your personal Apple device will be automatically configured for a perfect work experience, while keeping it in compliance with your company’s general security protocols, without any additional input needed on your end.
So make sure next time you enroll in a BYOD initiative at work, or if you are currently using your personal Apple device for work tasks, ask the IT team to have it done through User Enrollment, Apple’s native and exclusive Bring Your Own Device solution that is already present on your iPhone or iPad.
This will ensure your privacy is completely preserved while also providing the company all they need in terms of management and security.
If your IT team doesn’t yet know about User Enrollment, just forward them this article. User Enrollment is very easy to implement by any company, and through federation a work Google or Microsoft email can easily become the User Enrollment credential.
All your company will need to implement User Enrollment is a leading modern Apple-centric MDM solution such as Mosyle.
And if your IT team expresses some concern with price, bring them the great news that a leading modern Apple-centric MDM solution such as Mosyle, with all that is necessary for you and your company to take full advantage of Apple’s BYOD solution, costs only $1 per month. Yes, $1 per month for a perfect balance between employee privacy and employer security, and total peace of mind when using your personal devices at work.
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