Since October 2022 Softline has been operating under the brand name Noventiq.

The company phone is still one of the popular perks offered to employees. One of the best things about it, of course, is that it’s universally useful for everyone. However, if employees use the same device for private and work matters, it can lead on to sensitive issues. It is in the employer’s interest to keep its data assets safe, while not unnecessarily limiting phone use. Personalized security solutions may resolve this conflict—that’s what we talked about with Zsolt Pótor, Senior Solution Sales Manager at Softline.

Why it is worth thinking about custom solutions?

While organizations have been enjoying the benefits of remote access to company data for a long time, we’ve found that there is no all-round strategy covering all the relevant security issues. With phones dedicated to company use, employers often try to keep their data safe with supervised or managed devices, but this might mean that the employee can’t use their device with full functionality. For example, if you need an administrator to install a simple application, it might cause longer work hours, unnecessary inconvenience, or even employee distrust. To address this, we suggest solutions that build on another pillar beyond safety—on user-friendly design.

What can we turn to instead of total control?

We’re also able to build a flexible but sufficiently secure solution when an employee accesses company data through their own device, or when the company provides the device, but the employee may use their own apps on it. In both cases, the goal is to keep security in mind while not limiting the user unnecessarily. With a preliminary assessment, we can get an accurate view of the applications and content accessible by the employee. Based on this information, we offer a personalized security solution, which also keeps the user experience in mind.

In this way, the employer doesn’t need to manage personally-owned devices, but it can secure the employee’s apps and platforms containing company data by adding rules.

How does it work in practice?

With customized sets of rules, we can set, for example, that the employee may only access company emails using the official Microsoft Outlook app, with two-factor authentication. However, the employee can decide on their own how they wish to access their personal email and other applications. If the employee uses a certain app with a company account, saving screenshots may be disabled, while if they sign in with their own account then of course they can use the app without any limitations.

How long does it take to plan for custom scenarios and to migrate?

First, we assess which settings and rules make sense in practice for that particular company. The planning therefore always begins with a quick but thorough assessment. In this way, we can guarantee the security of company data, which is easily and flexibly accessible by the employees. We only have to set up the framework once, and we can implement that within a few weeks. However, achieving total control takes significantly more time. Another advantage of using custom settings is that they don’t require user training, as the employee can keep on using their device in their usual ways.

Although the field of IT security is quite complex, selecting and combining the proper components allows an efficient and customizable system to be created. If you are interested in learning more about enterprise security, please read our expert’s previous article or contact us today!