Many companies are feeling the effects of employees bringing their own mobile devices to work. Employees are hoping or expecting to have the IT department help set-up or solve problems, configure email, connect to Wi-Fi, and much more.

The following are some considerations when adopting a BYOD policy. These suggestions are considerations that will apply to most companies.

First, not all employees care about or use a smartphone. I discovered this when polling our employees about their mobile device usage. If your company moves to a policy of paying for employee phones, some employees will be glad to have anything with a battery and screen. Others will be excited if you simply reimburse for the cool phone they already purchased. Still others will be leery about "big brother" checking their usage and calls will feel suspicious. Plan for all types of reactions.

Next, don't try to support every smartphone and tablet on the planet. Just like PCs and printers, your IT department needs to test and support a short list of devices. It's too difficult and complicated to support any and all devices. Remember lessons learned from the past in support laptops and desktops. Also, you need to consider which devices are needed - by department - and get ready for employees who think they deserve more/better devices.

Get ready for the "data plan" challenge. The pay-as-you go data plans can get very costly if some employees freely browse and download audio and video all day long. Establish maximum use policies in those cases. For the "all you can eat" data plans, your costs will be fixed but you should consider productivity and liability of the employee.

Paying taxes? The good news for employees is that the Fringe Benefit Tax Guide says employee-owned devices with occasional personal use don't require reporting as taxable income. The IRS also issued guidelines in Sept. 2011 that employee reimbursements for personal cell phone plans are not taxable if there is a valid business reason.

With respect to privacy, be prepared to create and then enforce privacy and liability policies on employee use of company-provided mobile devices. The Supreme Court determined that employees have "no right to privacy" on a company-provided device. Be certain that employees know what you will have access to read their mail, texts, and documents.

And, you should consider a policy for appropriate use of media, including images and video. For example, use of child pornography can have liability ramifications for example. Use of other images can create a hostile work environment if, for example, an employee is exposed to pornography on other employee's device.

Will you provide unlimited texting as well? Will you allow company-provided mobile devices to be used while an employee is driving a company vehicle? Unless your organization can show that you enforce such policies, you will likely be liable for mobile device-related accidents.

Consider the issue of transferring phone numbers and the associated phone number ownership. If an employee transfers a personal number to the company, will you allow it to be transferred back in the event an employee leaves? And, are you ok with transferring a company-provided phone number to an employee when he leaves the company? Establish policies in advance and have employees sign off on their understanding of said policies.

International travelers bring their own series of issues. If someone travels outside the country, data usage, text messaging and phone calls can rack up exorbitant costs. Those employees must be aware of the challenges and held accountable for costs that will get into the range of thousands of dollars for a few days out of country.

Follow-up with IT on the types and frequency of help desk incidents related to mobile device support. Get ready for the challenges and demands. For example, is IT spending time training on how to use the device? Should IT drop everything when a C-level exec brings in a new iPad purchased at Christmas who wants email and Wi-Fi access? How many times will you re-set passwords? What is the course of action for a lost/stolen device?

This list isn't exhaustive. You'll find your own set of challenges. BYOD is here to stay. There are mobile device management (MDM) solutions on the market today that can help organizations of all sizes to manage device usage. Your IT will need the help.

To achieve optimal sales results when segmenting and targeting a new customer base, it's extremely important to make an appropriate level of literal and perceived investment. Many times, businesses operate with a minimalist approach when expanding into new markets. In practice, it's an approach where you ‘dip your toe into the pool' to gauge the market temperature. It is manifested through a scarce investment in time, people, or resources. Many companies assign few resources to manage a new targetmarket, to recruit partners, and to find customers. They react to market inquiries and interest.

Business partners and alliances, as well as customers, put more value in a long-term commitment to the market segment. The perception that your company is non-committed will impact results. Say no to the dabble approach.

Partners and customers react in a lackluster way to a perceived lack of market attention, lack of support, or a perceived one-sided partnership. Dabbling is a worst case scenario if your goal is to engender trust and confidence. The most important consequence of dabbling is that customers and partners may reciprocate the lack of interest.

You can find ways to make the investment appear more strategic and the market will react. Plan the attack and invest appropriately for best results. Perception is reality.

I recently read an article about Chris DiBona, the Google Open Source Program Manager, unleashing a complete rant about the lack of a need for an Anti-Virus program for Android and iOS.  The Manager went as far as calling companies pushing this technology “Charlatans and Scammers”.

Finally!  I am ecstatic that someone more reputable and with more clout than I is finally speaking up. I am in 100% agreement with his comments. Of course, I would have used different names than Charlatans and Scammers, but his point is completely valid.

Have you ever noticed that most of the “the sky is falling” and “you better buy an Anti-Virus program from your smart phone” messaging is coming from the companies that stand to make money by your purchase? Talk about creating your own supply and demand chain.

Let me start by sharing a quote from a very well known virus company.

Quote: “It's also worth noting that "viruses" don't exist on the Android to date”.

So wait, you are willing to take my money and market fear and urgency to me for a threat that does not “yet” exist? I don't know if I really get a warm fuzzy feeling about this.

Let me be very clear, I am not saying “there are no threats to data loss or privacy on mobile devices”. I agree that there are many “malicious” or “shady” applications found on the Google Market, and even in ITunes that will steal your information, spy on you, incur data or voice charges, etc. But calling these applications “viruses” is a serious misnomer and is just a ploy by the “Scammers and Charlatans” to get your money.

These rogue/shady application do not “infect” your device, these applications don't “magically” appear on your phone by opening an infected attachment or visiting a malicious website. These applications only get on your device by “you” the owner of the device selecting to download and install them. If a user does not choose to download and install these apps they will never get on their phone.

This takes me back to a blog post I wrote 8 months ago. The point of the post was that mobile devices need an Application Manager and controls, much more than they will ever need a Virus Scanner. I encourage you to take a look at it.

I submit that there are 3 really easy things you can do to make sure you don't ever install a “bad app”

1. Read the reviews of the app you are about to install. Use common sense if there are only a few reviews of the app or if it seems questionable or shady, it's likely that it is. There is no one requiring you to be the Guinea Pig to try out the new app on the market. Wait a couple days for some reviews and feedback. Google and Apple are working hard to pull apps off their markets and if it really is legit it will stand the test of time.
2. Don't get apps from shady places. I know, it is fun to have the random app that no one else has. I know you may feel that it makes you more desirable to the opposite sex if you have downloaded the “crazy cutting edge app” from a random 3rd party site or market. But the truth is, it's just not worth it. Most of the bad apps come from non-reputable sites and markets. Just stick with mainstream and you are likely to be safer.
3. Get a good application manager that can identify bad apps, and control the installation and use of applications. The truth is that this technology is still emerging and you may have to wait a little while before you can really get a good solution for this. I know that ContentWatch is releasing a good solution for this very soon, and I suggest checking the site regularly for updates on this technology.

My suggestion is don't run out and drop money on an AV solution that is really just taking up space on your SD card and sucking your battery life, wait for a real solution that really protects what you need protected. In the meantime hang onto your money and just avoid installing the random “see hot videos app” that was posted online by a random developer from Taiwan 5 minutes ago and you will probably be OK.

I work for ContentWatch and all opinions expressed here are my own.

According to a recent Cisco Connected World Technology Report, 70% of young employees and college students are aware of IT policies at work but admit to breaking the rules with regularity.

What?! I can hear my IT guy starting to rant in the background.

Hold on…to give the "kids" credit, the same study said that most common reason (33%) for rule-breaking is that the younger employees don't know they are doing anything wrong. And, let's face it, we're human and can't always read the manual. And the study also said that 15% of the time, it was a matter of forgetting about the policy.

For these two reasons, boundaries and IT policies need to be established and enforced. To be efficient and productive, IT guys must set boundaries, which in turn, help train younger folks or new hires about rules. Rules are needed to conduct business efficiently, to reduce help desk incidents, to keep costs down, and to keep data safe.

On the other hand, the Cisco study said that lack of enforcement (15%) and the inconvenience of adhering to policies (16%) are also contributors to the IT rule breaking. Now, I can imagine my IT guy getting pretty steamed. I've got to remind him that people are inherently good (at least that's what the study showed).

The trend toward BYOD or bring your own mobile device to work is only making this problem worse. Give the IT guy the tools he needs and then get out of the way.