We’ve committed to bringing more third party speakers to the User Group platform in 2013 in an effort to continue to drive value for partners making the choice to participate in our quarterly regional user group initiative.  Hartford’s guest speaker,  Brad Gross, attorney at law and part-time male model addressed a slew of questions regarding the ever popular topic in our world today - BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) in the MDM (Mobile Device Management) World.

Brad level set with historical trends; employees signing waivers, given notices, limiting access. He then moved into a full discussion on how we can make sure we're creating opportunity and value from this trend all while operating legally in this growing environment. His interactive discussion started off with an idea: Should we do something about it?

Check out the following stats, that certainly made for quite a stir among our Nor’Easter crowd:
81% of Employed Adults use at least one personally owned device for business use.
Employers are fully aware of less 10% of those devices.
34% of people keep work related passwords on their phones/devices.
1/2 of companies have experienced a data breach due to insecure devices.

It took Apple 22 years to sell 55 million iMac computers. It only took 2 years to sell 55 million iPads.
With the growing number of Mobile Device Users and thus a growing number of security risks it is of vital importance that the MDM Security craze keep growing as well.

Brad explored the legalities of what MSP’s can do to protect themselves and their company’s vital information. The A-Ha moment for the Nor Easters came with the discussion of “treating your MSA as a constitution.” In sum, create an MSA (Master Service Agreement), make sure it’s strong, reviewed by a legal representative, and keep in mind it is a living, breathing document. Another key point: notify your employees with easily understandable language with updates and/or agreement reminders every 6 months.

The main thing you should take from this is: If you haven’t already, and you’re in the area register for the South East or the Mid-Atlantic User Groups where you’ll be able to bring your specific questions directly to Brad and give your MDM strategy a boost!

Follow Brad Gross on twitter @bradleygross

Author: Nathan Caldwell @CaldwellNed