Why should you create a BYOD acceptable use policy?
How should universities approach acceptable use policies when delivering BYOD? Read on to find out...
Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
When it comes to BYOD, an acceptable use policy is another essential policy that helps to protect and inform both organizations and its users (universities and students/faculty). The key purpose is to educate BYOD users how ‘fair, safe, and acceptable use’ is defined and to detail the actions that fall within fair use and those that breach it.
A secondary purpose is fulfilled in the act of communicating acceptable use information to BYOD users; Making sure all users have been sufficiently educated on the usage policies they’re agreeing to protects universities ethically and legally should any issues arise from unsafe or abusive use of a BYOD program.
What are the key benefits of a BYOD acceptable use policy?
- Protect university network from security breaches
- Gives universities greater control
- Ensure students know how to use their own devices to access university resources
- Reduce demand on support
Protect university network from security breaches
Educate your users on which actions might result in encountering or transmitting malware or viruses. This will help to avoid users accidentally taking those actions. For those intending to abuse university resources intentionally, defining clearly what is and isn’t acceptable use will help to discourage them. In both cases, the university is much less likely to be affected by security threats.
Gives universities greater control
With a set of defined acceptable and unacceptable use criteria and the confidence that your users are educated on and adhering to these criteria, university IT will have effectively given itself more control over how BYOD is used. This isn’t inherently a benefit, however, one of the challenges of BYOD from a security perspective is permitting access to university resources, systems, and networks to a huge number of unchecked machines. Greater control over how BYO devices are used can help to bolster security.
This extends to accessing software on multiple devices, leaving apps open, etc. Greater control over all the aspects of accessing software that affect how many licenses are required can help with reducing licenses as well as removing bottlenecks and peak times.
Help students get as much out of BYOD as possible
Ensuring students are as educated as possible on how to use their university BYOD program helps to give them the best digital student experience problem and provide good return-on-investment for IT after implementing robust and expensive BYOD-capable technologies.
Be certain your students know which of their devices they can access university resources on, what limitations, if any, exist when it comes to access and make sure they know the best practices of how to use their machines to access university software through various delivery methods.
Reduce demand on support
An acceptable use policy should inform users as to which actions could result in issues for them, whether that be trouble accessing software or more serious security breaches. If students are educated on which actions to avoid taking, fewer issues will be encountered and less support will be required.
What is included in an acceptable use policy for BYOD?
So, with the benefits of writing an acceptable use policy in mind, what should your policy cover in order to be effective?
- Devices permitted for use
- How to register devices and when you should register devices
- Security practices
- Where to report security concerns
- IT support available
- User responsibilities
- Consequences of misuse
Devices permitted for use
Include a section covering devices compatible with your BYOD policy. Provide an exhaustive list and information on how they can learn the details of their device, from model number to operating system. If there are any limitations based on device type, or if certain device types require users to launch apps or access resources differently, explain them specifically. If any devices are disallowed rather than incompatible, also list them specifically. It could also be worth providing some detail on why specific devices may or may not be compatible/allowed.
How to register devices and when you should register devices
Provide your students and faculty with all the setup information they need. Whether registration/setup steps are required by delivery technologies, or whether your particular policy stipulates devices must be registered with IT before accessing resources. Let your students know at which point a device must be registered before accessing university resources with it and if there any further specific steps they need to take to prepare their personal devices for BYO access.
Security practices
As previously mentioned, the more educated on security practices your users are, the fewer security threats you can expect to encounter. You can also expect to see the demand on support decrease. This can help to make the difference between a successful BYOD rollout and an unsuccessful one. Keeping support needs as low as possible keeps IT staff members available to manage the rollout and the fewer challenges your users experience in the early stages of rollout the greater their acceptance of new methods of accessing software will be.
Where to report security concerns
Similarly, informing students where and how to report any security threats they face can help to manage any risks before they become an issue and to mitigate the chance of any security breaches going unnoticed.
IT support available
Give clear instructions on how your student should do about obtaining support, should they need it. This can help to manage the flow of support requests and, therefore, IT service desks’ workloads as well as avoiding any frustration users may experience. Avoiding frustration and ensuring students have a good opinion of/relationship with the delivery tools they launch apps with helps to keep rollouts and launches smooth and can help to improve ratings given to universities by students.
User responsibilities
In good detail, make sure to let users know the actions they are responsible for taking and not taking. This might cover regular usage tips, such as ‘do not leave your machine unattended, unlocked or logged-in in a public space’ as well as covering a list of malicious actions to avoid. Do not leave anything to chance or even open to interpretation, wherever possible.
Consequences of misuse
Let users know what any consequences of misuse are. This will help to discourage anyone who might otherwise abuse university resources, decreasing the chance of security breach, and will also support any actions that may need to be taken by IT should a security breach occur.
Can Cloud Delivery solve your BYOD challenges?
In this webinar you’ll learn:
- BYOD solutions – effective ways to service multiple device profiles for a seamless experience.
- Cloud Delivery demonstration – showcasing real-world applications.
- Feature updates – the latest innovations and solutions from AppsAnywhere.
- Why Cloud Delivery is the answer to VDI limitations.
- Boosting security, reducing costs, and enabling flexibility for BYOD.
FAQs
Is there an option to still auto-validate?
Auto validation is still available as an option. We aim to ensure there are as few occasions of attempting to launch but being unable to as possible, and where they occur, explaining why.
Directory path local execution, when does detection occur? During login? During validation?
Detection occurs during validation - the client is given a list of directories to look in and it returns what it finds.
Any CSS options like Dark Mode available for users to customize the look of the portal?
Dark mode wasn't something we were able to do for this version, but it is something that we are looking to include in the future.
Can Download the Client be hidden?
If client download is not available in that instance - such as in labs mode or if client install is suppressed, then the client link will not appear. The client download link will also only appear on platforms which have a client - i.e. Windows and macOS.
When can we get 2.12?
If you would like to upgrade to 2.12 please submit a support request and the team will be touch.
How to implement BYOD in schools
To implement BYOD in a cost-effective and sustainable way, schools will need a clear idea of a number of key data points to understand which technologies are necessary and how many licenses of each technology are required: Number of users/devices Weighting of device type/platform (Windows vs Mac vs Linux) Software titles to deliver Usage data on software titles for licensing User groups requiring specialist software You can read more about implementing BYOD policies in schools in the SecurEdge article, ‘How to successfully implement a BYOD program into your school’ > https://www.securedgenetworks.com/blog/how-to-successfully-implement-a-byod-program-into-your-school
How communication is improved in school with BYOD?
With a BYOD policy implemented, schools can begin working to introduce centralized communication points such as Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) or Learning Management Systems (LMSs). Software delivery tools such as AppsAnywhere also provide areas that can be used to communicate with students. Once BYOD is enabled, schools can be more confident that students are actively accessing digital academic resources through specific channels, and that communication propagated through those channels is much more likely to be seen.
Does BYOD save schools money?
Yes, it can do. While BYOD technologies may be expensive, with the correct provisioning and tools implemented, the decrease in hardware investment required from schools by allowing students to bring their own device and insight from reporting data can help schools save money on their software delivery.
Why BYOD is good for schools?
BYOD policies in schools reduce the hardware investment of electronic devices, including mobile devices, needed for schools to offer equal access to digital academic resources to all students. By leveraging student-owned hardware, BYOD policies in schools can increase the resources available to students, such as software, digital media and digital learning environments, at a fraction of the cost of ensuring there are enough organization-owned machines for every student to use. Furthermore, BYOD allows students to access school resources outside of school and outside of teaching hours via their own device.
Why is BYOD important in schools?
BYOD policies in schools help to introduce students to completing work from their own devices in preparation for higher education and employment. In an ever-more-digital world, getting used to using personal devices to complete work can help desensitize students to the potential distractions offered by those devices. BYOD can also help students learn to manage their time effectively in a society where the lines between work time and free time are becoming more and more blurred.
When is AppsAnywhere 3.0 out?
We’re excited to be releasing AppsAnywhere 3.0 in December 2022, in time for January enrolment. Your dedicated Customer Success team will be in touch when it’s available to ensure your institution gets the most out of AppsAnywhere.
How can I get the latest version?
To get the latest version if you are currently using AppsAnywhere, schedule a call with your specialist implementations team and we can help you to start benefiting from AppsAnywhere 2.12 now.
Who can help me deploy VDI?
Most IT professionals get excited when considering new technologies and solutions. Without a doubt, the prospect of a VDI deployment project is likely to get your team’s juices flowing. However, deploying VDI is complex and often includes a host of new infrastructure and unique software management tools. The best advice is to engage with a vendor partner early on so that the design for your campus can be vetted by experts who work with VDI on a daily basis. A vendor partner can also help guide through different architecture scenarios, use cases, and potential pitfalls. All of the knowledge transfer gained will put the IT team in a far better position to successfully deploy and support VDI for your campus.
Which is better: DaaS or VDI?
As is the theme throughout the rest of this article, there isn’t really an objective victor in DaaS vs. VDI. However, when it comes to Higher Ed, we rarely see full DaaS deployments. They’re often saved for more limited use cases, such as temporary BYOD access, or delivering to satellite campuses. For the scale of delivery required by HEIT, VDI will usually come out on top. However, you still need to decide whether to go for legacy VDI, or newer, hosted solutions…
What is the difference between DaaS and fully hosted VDI?
DaaS refers to virtual desktops being provided to organizations as a service-based solution. It will include support for managing, upgrading and maintaining virtual machines. It is a more complete out-of-the-box solution with a price tag to match. Fully-hosted VDI is just like legacy VDI, except you don’t need on-premise server infrastructure, and they are often pay-as-you-go. Fully-hosted solutions are also referred to cloud-hosted solutions and they are the same as VDI, except hosted for you, as the name suggests.
Citrix or VMware?
Both VMware and Citrix have a robust product offering across many different solution suites. Historically, Citrix has excelled in the realm of remote app delivery or app remoting solutions. On the other hand, VMware leads the way with full desktop VDI delivery. Deciding on the right approach is solely dependent on the needs of the institution and what goals they are hoping to achieve with the project.
Why have a BYOD policy?
A formal BYOD policy helps to ensure a high chance of success and adoption as well as communicating practical information to users on how to interact with and use software on their BYO devices.
What is in a BYOD policy?
To put it concisely, a BYOD policy should include any or all of the following: Device type Operating system Available resources Security Usage conditions
What is BYOD policy?
A BYOD policy is a formal definition and agreement between the BYOD provider (universities) and the BYOD users (students). It is similar to an SLA (Service Level Agreement) between service-providers and outlines how users can expect to interact with their university's BYOD program, as well as any limitations, usage conditions, and compatibility information.
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AppsAnywhere is a global education technology solution provider that challenges the notion that application access, delivery, and management must be complex and costly. AppsAnywhere is the only platform to reduce the technical barriers associated with hybrid teaching and learning, BYOD, and complex software applications, and deliver a seamless digital end-user experience for students and staff. Used by over 3 million students across 300+ institutions in 22 countries, AppsAnywhere is uniquely designed for education and continues to innovate in partnership with the education community and the evolving needs and expectations of students and faculty.
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NEXT STEPS TO IMPROVING YOUR SOFTWARE DELIVERY
Your apps anywhere, anytime, on any device
Register your interest for a demo and see how AppsAnywhere can help your institution. Receive a free consultation of your existing education software strategy and technologies, an overview of AppsAnywhere's main features and how they benefit students, faculty and IT, and get insight into the AppsAnywhere journey and post launch partnership support.