Solving BYOD issues a must says HP

MANILA, Philippines -- With the risks associated with today's trend of bring-your-own-devices (BYOD), the concern simply cannot be ignored, according to technology company Hewlett-Packard (HP).

HP reported about 50 percent of workers today are using three or more devices for work, but the IT department doesn't see it.

The tech firm also shared that approximately 4.5 billion personal client devices will be on the network in 2015.

Yet probably the biggest concern is through 2014, where it is projected that employee-owned devices will be compromised by malware at more than double the rate of corporate-owned devices.

"The legacy networks of most organizations are simply unprepared for BYOD," said Kash Shaikh, Senior Director of HP's Product and Technical Marketing, Networking.

He said companies need a holistic or unified solution for BYOD.

For HP's part, Shaikh said it addresses the problem through its SDN (software-defined Network Drivers) solution, which deals with openness, automation, and interoperability.

"The HP SDN addresses the challenges of BYOD to provide secure access from the corporate network," Shaikh said.

Compared with a complex, legacy infrastructure that spans two separate networks and management applications, HP's goal is to deliver unified wired and wireless management and switching platforms that create a single network for wired and wireless connectivity.

According to research firm Gartner, every business needs a clearly articulated position on BYOD, and formal BYOD programs are a fast-growing phenomenon due to the booming, innovative mobile device market.

Gartner said by 2016, two-thirds of the world's workforce will own smartphones, and 40 percent of the workforce will be mobile.

"Private cloud is not just about cost reduction. Agility will be a key benefit," Shaikh said, noting that by year 2020, about 50 billion devices will be connected to wireless networks.