Virtualization and Cloud executives share their predictions for 2013.  Read them in this VMblog.com series exclusive.

Contributed article by Eric Croswhite, Manager, Americas Thin Client & Virtualization, HP

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Other Threats, Challenges and Opportunities

In 2013, HP believes we will see continued confusion and opportunity in what has come to be known as Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD -with employees trying to use their own devices at work, and IT struggling to keep the network safe, or allow a mix of devices be used. 

We have only scratched the surface of BYOD. Business needs are changing at a rapid pace, and remote workers need anytime, anywhere access to their desktops. This creates both a threat and opportunity.

In a heterogeneous enterprise of multiple tablets, smart phones and consumer entertainment devices enterprise security and software management for IT can become very time-consuming and expensive.

Challenges include:

• The standardization of security programs and firewalls
• Management of tracking devices and controlling access to corporate and private networks

In the coming year, companies will return to the idea of central management as a way to keep BYOD under control. Businesses are trending toward desktop virtualization to strengthen security in light of BYOD because of the benefits which include:

• A single hardware access point provides the ability for quick program management and security alterations to an entire network
• Virtual desktops have no hard drive, so if a device is connected to them, it has the security of the network already in place, and it has a longer lifespan with no moving parts.
• Security management of thin clients is cost efficient. Virtualization allows companies to maintain a single server to manage virtualized desktops, rather than needing to maintain applications on dozens of desktop PCs.
• Theft of devices is not an issue, as thin clients are simply the gateway to the secured data that lives on the server or in the cloud

Companies considering virtual desktop environments have a broad range of opportunities to diversify - from all-in-one zero clients with built-in monitors to save space, or which can run on power over Ethernet (PoE) and thin clients with dual core processors that can power up to 6 screens!

Other thin clients can be used in healthcare for secure, yet easy, single sign-on system for physicians required to log-in frequently to patient files, to help hospitals and clinics more easily comply with HIPAA regulations.

Besides increased use of desktop virtualization, companies will also:

• Equip employees who need them with notebooks that are faster, yet thinner and lighter such as Ultrabooks
• Develop mobile strategies that encompass applications that can be accessed by smartphones, such as HP ePrint
• Roll out more all-in-one and touch-enabled PCs
• Deploy large wall displays and digital signage will drive whole new kinds of interactive experiences for businesses, brands, retailers and their customers

2013 will continue to be a big year for infrastructure, applications and services in the cloud. The inherent security of accessing, working with and then saving files in the cloud, or running applications that reside elsewhere, will continue shape computing in 2013.

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