As the bring your own device trend (BYOD) gathers momentum, IT managers can no longer stem the tide.

Users are bringing their tablets, smartphones and new applications into the enterprise, so IT departments must now have to contend with these new endpoints without breaching data security or breaking the bank. The BYOD trend presents opportunities to empower remote users and make the workplace device-agnostic, but it also poses challenges in terms of security, identity management and more. In this Enterprise Mobility University, we focus on the key questions that infrastructure managers, systems and virtualization administrators, and IT purchasers must consider before introducing BYOD to their environments.

This video-driven university outlines the considerations for IT managers and helps weigh the pros and cons of introducing and managing these technologies. Each multimedia classroom will address a key area of the consumerization of IT: security policies for diverse endpoints, BYOD and virtual desktops, mobile device management practices, and the basics of application virtualization.

Readership: Attendees are IT administrators and managers who are considering purchasing new endpoints such as smartphones, tablets and laptops; those evaluating mobile device management and security software for their environments; administrators working on a desktop or application virtualization project, and even consumers evaluating endpoint devices.

Classrooms:

• BYOD and the Virtual Desktop Debate. Bring-your-own-device policies come in several forms, but the core idea is the same: Allow employees to access corporate data and applications from devices such as iPads and smartphones. Learn about the types of BYOD policies and how to implement them in your workplace.
• Setting Security Policies for Enterprises with Diverse Endpoints. Enterprise mobility brings with a large and diverse number of endpoints to manage, which can easily become a headache for IT and potentially open up the network to security threats and data loss. Find out how to secure your network in this classroom.
• Mobile Device Management. Enterprises need a strategy for mobile device management as users bring in a widening range of devices. Read about the challenges that smartphones and tablets pose to administration and security, devise a strategy for dealing with them, and see which security features are desirable for mobile device management software.
• Choosing the Right Device for Enterprise End Users. With several popular device options and a slew of management and security concerns to consider, enterprises that want to issue mobile devices to employees face a difficult decision. Get the information you need to know to make the right choice.
• Application Virtualization 101. What is application virtualization? And how can IT managers use it to their best advantage? We discuss topics including different methods of virtualizing applications, the pros and cons of app virtualization, application virtualization and virtual desktop infrastructure, and alternative tools to VMware ThinApp.
• Taking control of BYOD with MDM. Enterprise MDM systems help admins monitor and secure consumer devices, but it can be tricky to keep track of all the different technologies and strategies available. View this expert classroom, put together by SearchConsumerization.com’s editorial team, to help gain insight on how to take control of BYOD with MDM technology.