Device strategy

It is essential to have fine-grained and well-defined strategies for how devices are used in enterprises. Emerging hardware and software capabilities of Android mobile devices have led to diverse device distribution gateways. Enterprises can select and plan according to their needs and security level enforcement strategies. Each device distribution approach requires a technical support system, application/ device management plan, admin console for administration activities, and policies that need to be enforced. Popular enterprise device strategies are BYOD, CYOD and COPE, which are described below.

BYOD: Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is a popular device strategy with enterprises, wherein users are allowed to access their own personal devices for enterprise applications. As enterprise data and applications are accessed via users’ personal devices, this strategy requires well planned and enforced security to protect the data.

CYOD: Choose Your Own Device (CYOD) is a limited version of BYOD. In this device strategy, enterprises can support selected Android devices for application access, and users are requested to choose a device from a proposed device list. This strategy also demands security mechanisms and policies to protect enterprise data on Android devices.

COPE: The Corporate Owned Personally Enabled (COPE) device distribution policy is the way to ensure high levels of security for enterprise data. This is also one of the recommended ways for enterprises, if data is very sensitive, and its loss leads to high risks. Enterprises can use customised COPE Android devices that come with high security mechanisms and limited access for personal usage.