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back to article How mobile device management is taking on the BYOD challenge

Every IT manager worth his or her salt would really like to get hold of users’ physical devices to lock down security and manage privileges, protocols and permissions in the perpetual quest for control. This is not always possible. The situation has given rise to industry terminology such as mobile device management (MDM) and …

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  1. Chris Miller

    Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

    Solves many of the problems of BYOD. All you need is two pieces of software - a VDI client and a strong, secure VPN - that can be installed on a wide range of devices (there are plenty of solutions covering RIM and Apple, as well as most Android and Linux systems). WiFi in your offices (with an air-gap to the corporate network) and you're good to go.

    I'd be the first to admit that not every application is suitable for VDI - CAD/CAM, software development, some marketing activities are obvious examples. But 90% of users (and in many organisations 99% of users) only need email, Internet/intranet browsing and standard office tools, which are well supported.

    Do it right, and you'll find the support costs for your existing desktops will go down as well,.

    1 0 Reply
    1. Graham 24
      Reply Icon

      Re: Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

      Why do you say that software development is not suitable? It's mainly editing text, which is ideally suited for a remote-working scenario (protocols like RDP are very efficient for text).

      It's a problem if the devs insist on downloading a 5GB repository to the local client, but provided you keep the source code, compile and link etc on the server end of the remote link, there isn't a problem.

      0 0 Reply
    2. Anonymous Coward
      Reply Icon
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Virtual Desktop Infrastructure

      That really, really depends on what you mean by support costs. The costs of hardware and, especially, licensing is enough to give any rational CIO/SysAdmin a heart attack. I am keep circling the objective, truly distributed computing on any device but damn. What I end up with is the application equivalent of publish/subscribe databases which isn't a terrible model given flaky to unavailable network connections.

      By the way, it isn't hard at all to do development over the connection, or at least no harder than office work on large files. I keep large files synchronized, multiple gigs (4+ GB) and that's with encrypted containers (EDS/TrueCrypt) tossed in the mix. Display size is the major annoyance not size.

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    VDI is not the panacea you might think it is

    There is a good reason that a lot of people use Laptops as their Desktop. The reason is that they are mobile. And when you are mobile there is not always a network connection that would allow you to use your VDI from a mobile device.

    Then there are the sometimes horrendous costs of data when roaming(50p+/Mbyte). What price VDI then eh?

    As someone who travels the world on Business, My laptop is my desktop and it travels with me. It runs my between 6 & 9 VM's that simulate the Industrial Plant that I work on with ease.

    I would love for a VDI supporter to explain how VDI would benefit my work.

    Oh, and mobile phones/3G Dongles are not allowed on the sites I work on and there is no external network connection (Remember the SCADA virus problems)

    But I have to dash, I have a flight to Sao Paulo to catch.

    2 0 Reply
    1. Chris Miller
      Reply Icon

      Re: VDI is not the panacea you might think it is

      I'll add Industrial Plant simulation to my list of topics unsuitable for VDI. But, I repeat, most people aren't working on CAM, they need only a few basic apps that are easily capable of being handled through VDI.

      1 1 Reply
  3. Graham Cobb Silver badge

    Mixing up MDM and BYOD

    The article seems to be about MDM, not BYOD. If the company needs the level of control over devices that is described as the goal of MDM in the article, then they will need to provide the devices. No one will bring their own device and accept that level of control.

    BYOD is about companies being willing to trade off control in exchange for reduced cost and more satisfied employees. You can't have all three at once.

    It would have been more useful if the article had been about what level of control is actually feasible with BYOD, not with company-owned devices.

    2 0 Reply

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