The Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the San Francisco Giants (they're a US baseball team) has revealed how he goes about implementing BYOD. What's interesting is that, from an IT perspective, they face the same issues small to medium enterprises (SME) would face when it comes to BYOD security.
Based on the computerworld.com interview, it's quite apparent that being the head of IT for a sports franchise has its own particular set of problems and complexities. For example, the Giants's home ground, the AT&T Park, offers Wi-Fi access to fans and Giants personnel alike. With the proliferation and ubiquity of social media, it means that IT issues will swell in-season as fans bring their devices to games. The park has a total seating capacity of over 40,000. Even if only 20% of fans bring their smart devices with them, it means the CIO has to find a way to accommodate a sudden data endpoint influx of 8,000 overnight and deal with the accompanying bandwidth and other wireless networking issues. Indeed, the Wikipedia entry on AT&T Park notes that it's one of the largest hotspots in the world (depending on the season, one imagines). Yet, the IT department is composed of 11 staff members only, in an organization that has a total of 160 employees. Based on employment figures, the Giants franchise is a small business; based on revenue ($230 million in 2011), it's anything but. In terms of IT services, I'm pretty sure the department has an identity crisis as it shifts from small business to large enterprise and back. Or, maybe I'm reading too much into the following quote (computerworld.com.au): "We're not an IT company, we're a baseball team ... and our front office should not have the expertise in various technologies," [CIO of the San Francisco Giants, Bill] Schlough said. This could very well be the rallying call of all SMEs out there that have to deal with data in the workplace issues.
Based on the computerworld.com interview, it's quite apparent that being the head of IT for a sports franchise has its own particular set of problems and complexities. For example, the Giants's home ground, the AT&T Park, offers Wi-Fi access to fans and Giants personnel alike.
With the proliferation and ubiquity of social media, it means that IT issues will swell in-season as fans bring their devices to games. The park has a total seating capacity of over 40,000. Even if only 20% of fans bring their smart devices with them, it means the CIO has to find a way to accommodate a sudden data endpoint influx of 8,000 overnight and deal with the accompanying bandwidth and other wireless networking issues. Indeed, the Wikipedia entry on AT&T Park notes that it's one of the largest hotspots in the world (depending on the season, one imagines).
Yet, the IT department is composed of 11 staff members only, in an organization that has a total of 160 employees. Based on employment figures, the Giants franchise is a small business; based on revenue ($230 million in 2011), it's anything but. In terms of IT services, I'm pretty sure the department has an identity crisis as it shifts from small business to large enterprise and back.
Or, maybe I'm reading too much into the following quote (computerworld.com.au):
"We're not an IT company, we're a baseball team ... and our front office should not have the expertise in various technologies," [CIO of the San Francisco Giants, Bill] Schlough said.
This could very well be the rallying call of all SMEs out there that have to deal with data in the workplace issues.
It only makes sense that a business that offers one of the largest Wi-Fi hotspots in the world is also hitching a ride on the BYOD (bring your own device) bandwagon. But, again, in terms of IT, the Giants are a relatively large small business. As such, they're following the guidelines below, which lesser SMEs could use as an initial blueprint for their own BYOD and consumerization projects. Secure devices with a passcode. Devices must support the remote data wipes if device is lost or stolen. Employees incur all costs. BYOD devices do not get support from the Giants IT department (with some exceptions). Not all business data can be accessed via BYOD devices. There are no guarantees that things will work correctly on tablets (as opposed to a laptop computer, I take it). The CIO has also pointed out that BYOD was possibly because of "bottom up" demand, and that they standardized on devices in order to reduce support burden ("it's also easier to secure and deploy a consistent software image across a batch of all-in-ones"). Of course, the above is not a perfect guideline for all SME BYOD; it's the perfect one just for the Giants. For example, maybe there's a small business out there that wants employees to use their own devices in the workplace and are willing to reimburse or partially compensate costs because they've found a sizable increase in productivity. If that's the case, it may make more than enough sense for this particular company to defray some of the costs.
It only makes sense that a business that offers one of the largest Wi-Fi hotspots in the world is also hitching a ride on the BYOD (bring your own device) bandwagon. But, again, in terms of IT, the Giants are a relatively large small business. As such, they're following the guidelines below, which lesser SMEs could use as an initial blueprint for their own BYOD and consumerization projects.
The CIO has also pointed out that BYOD was possibly because of "bottom up" demand, and that they standardized on devices in order to reduce support burden ("it's also easier to secure and deploy a consistent software image across a batch of all-in-ones").
Of course, the above is not a perfect guideline for all SME BYOD; it's the perfect one just for the Giants. For example, maybe there's a small business out there that wants employees to use their own devices in the workplace and are willing to reimburse or partially compensate costs because they've found a sizable increase in productivity. If that's the case, it may make more than enough sense for this particular company to defray some of the costs.
Related Articles and Sites:http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/429338/sf_giants_cio_security_cost_challenges_byod/