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OMB BYOD Guideline Out This Week, to Include Smartphone Reimbursement

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Courtesy of Blackberry

The bring your own device guideline due this week by the Office of Management and Budget will include provisions for device reimbursement, Federal Times reports.

Under the agency adoptable BYOD guideline, employees are encouraged to discontinue using government issued Smartphone’s and to use their own devices for their work.

Delaware Department of Technology & Information Chief Operating Officer Bill Hickox said that he has drafted a reimbursement policy template for the new BYOD guidance.

He added that the program, being piloted in his department, has saved his state $35,000 since it was introduced last spring.

Under the program, employees return state-issued Blackberry’s and are given $40 per-month to cover expenses incurred through their own personal devices.

Before the program began, the state paid $80 for each government issued mobile device.

Currently, only the states of Delaware, Washington, and Virginia have a BYOD reimbursement program.

Charles Robb, a senior policy analyst at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers told Federal Times that while states have been reluctant to adopt BYOD previously, that trend is rapidly changing.

Nicole Blake Johnson reports the government is spending around $1.2 billion annually on mobile and wireless services.

Michael Isman, Booz Allen Hamilton VP, recently offered the OMB advice on the new BYOD guideline.

2 Comments

  1. BYOD can make sense for certain government agencies. Tablets and smartphones are the perfect devices for field staff and top managers that need to be on-call.

    Does BYOD come with headaches? Of course it does. However, security issues and IT management headaches (how do I support all those devices?) can be addressed by using new HTML5 technologies that enable users to connect to applications and systems without requiring IT staff to install anything on user devices. For example, Ericom AccessNow is an HTML5 RDP client that enables remote users to securely connect from iPads, iPhones and Android devices to any RDP host, including Terminal Server and VDI virtual desktops, and run their applications and desktops in a browser. This enhances security by keeping applications and data separate from the employee’s personal device.

    Since AccessNow doesn’t require any software installation on the end user device – just an HTML5 browser, network connection, URL address and login details – IT staff end up with less support hassles. An employee that brings in their own device merely opens their HTML5-compatible browser and connects to the URL given them by the IT admin.

    Check out this link for more info:
    http://www.ericom.com/BYOD_Workplace.asp?URL_ID=708

    And yes, I work for Ericom

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