SOTI MobiControl, Android Enterprise and Work Profile Come Together to Protect Privacy in the Hybrid Work Model

The Hybrid Work Model is Here, There and Everywhere

The future of work is looking hybrid post-pandemic for many organizations worldwide, as 73% of employees want flexible remote options to stay and 66% of businesses are looking at redesigning office space for hybrid work.

The rise of the hybrid work model coincides with the growth in popularity and practicality of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Corporately Owned Personally Enabled (COPE) device policies. In 2021:

• 67% of employees use personal devices at work

• 87% of businesses need employees to access business apps from their smartphone

• 69% of IT decision-makers say BYOD is a good thing

• 59% of organizations have adopted BYOD

• 72% of mobile devices used by organizations are COPE

While workers are comfortable using personal devices for business tasks or accessing personal data on corporately owned devices, they expect separation and privacy protection between them.  

Meanwhile, BYOD and COPE, just like the hybrid work model, aren’t going anywhere. Neither are threats associated with them: lost or stolen devices, unsecured networks, data breaches and malicious apps.  

The smart solution is twofold. Firstly, it’s to use an Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solution, such as SOTI MobiControl, to manage. Secondly, it’s to deploy Google™ Android™ Enterprise-powered devices and utilize work profile.

Work Profile and Personal Profiles: Device Management To Keep Them Separated

Carrying two devices – one for corporate use, one for personal use – is sometimes called “dual wielding” and is done by 32% of employees.

However, switching from one device to another to catch up on family emails, review a corporate presentation, post on social media and collect data on a corporate app is time-consuming.

Work profile takes a single device – a smartphone for example – and containerizes it into two parts:

• Work profile: This is where all corporate apps and data are stored

• Personal profile: This is where personal data – think photos, contacts, apps, games, etc. – is stored

Now, 70% of employees are comfortable using a personal phone for work purposes if there’s a clear separation between the two. With work profile, employees get peace of mind along with the ease and convenience of having all their critical work tools inside the personal device they always keep with them.

Meanwhile, organizations aren’t spending money on buying, deploying, provisioning and shipping new, separate devices to end users on a regular basis.

What makes work profile so effective, and desirable, is that it truly separates work and personal data. Users only see and interact with the selected profile and IT departments get full control over the business side of the device.

And that’s where SOTI MobiControl comes in.

SOTI MobiControl is Taking Care of Business

SOTI MobiControl – an Android Enterprise recommended solution – allows administrators to manage apps, data and certain settings inside the work profile. Management actions are limited to those that can be containerized and do not affect the personal side of the device.

When it comes to configuring the work side of a personal device, SOTI MobiControl administrators have control over the following:

Security

Did you know that only 46% of organizations use antivirus protection to protect against BYOD data threats and that 9% of businesses don’t protect themselves at all? Ensure devices and users are always secured with the following configurations:

• Antivirus Protection: Enable antivirus protection on the device

• Authentication: Enforce administrator and user password policies

• Certificates: Distribute digital certificates to devices

• Out-of-Contact: Determine automatic actions when a device has not connected to your deployment server in a specified amount of time

Restrictions

Did you know the top BYOD security concern for 57% of organizations is users downloading unsafe apps and content? But with the SOTI MobiControl work profile configurations listed below, it’s no longer a concern:

• Application Run Control: Restrict which apps can operate on the device

• Browser and Browser Proxy: Manage Internet browser security settings and specify connection settings for the Google Chrome browser, respectively

• Feature Control: Disable specific features on the device such as Bluetooth capabilities or camera access

• Web Filter: Specify which URLs devices can access within Google Chrome

Connectivity

Did you know that 67% of IT professionals believe that BYOD usage during the pandemic has decreased their company’s overall security due to things like connecting to unsecured networks? The following work profile configurations ensures your business isn’t one of them:

• Pulse Secure and NetMotion VPN: Configure Pulse Secure VPN settings and NetMotion VPN settings for your devices, respectively

• Wi-Fi: Configure Wi-Fi settings on the device

Learn More

Collectively Android Enterprise, work profile and SOTI MobiControl work together to help organizations protect data and to help mobile employees better manage their work-life balance.

In fact, research shows that 70% of work profile users are more satisfied with their work-life balance than non-work profile users.

Learn more about SOTI MobiControl, Android Enterprise and work profile by:

• Contacting SOTI with your questions or comments

• Requesting a free demo

• Beginning a free 30-day trial of the SOTI ONE Platform