Windows Phone not allowed in BYOD program

[Scott Bradley]

My company has been pushing us from blackberry's to BYOD phones. I currently own a Nokia 1020 that I love, but they are not allowed per company policy.

The BYOD policy requires the use of the Good for Enterprise app... I installed it today and within an hour it was wiped and disabled from my phone... I received an email from the BYOD staff stating:

"We noticed that you have a Windows Phone. At this time Microsoft does not support the security requirements required by our BYOD program. It is for this reason that we are required to remove your device from the BYOD server. Sorry for any inconvenience. "

First - what the heck is up with MS not meeting the security requirements?
Second - anyone want to buy a mint Nokia 1020? Looks like I am being forced over to an android phone. :unhappy:

 

[Scott Bradley]

Looks like I did get a response from the administrator:

"The issue is with Microsoft. They have not built in management capabilities for the device itself. As a requirement from Information Security we must be able to enforce and ensure that a device password and lockout is set. Microsoft has not provided these capabilities to MDM companies like Good yet. "

 

[dkediger]

Not that its going to be any help if IT is going to refuse to support it, but the 1020 is on Good's Certified Device List:

Supported Devices

PDF list of device contained at the "Learn More" link under the Certified Devices header.....

Certified devices undergo comprehensive certification testing to ensure the security of Good solutions on them.
...
While certified devices should be chosen when security is a priority....

You would think Good wouldn't list a device as Certified if it didn't support policies for PIN and Remote Wipe. But then I'm not a Good user/admin either.

 

[AMRooke]

Are you running WP 8.1 yet? It has enhanced enterprise features, and should be a better fit for BYOD than WP 8.0.

If you don't have 8.1 yet, the developer preview is available for download after you:

1. register your phone (Windows Phone App Studio - Microsoft, free and easy; OR have a developer unlocked device, slight hassle; OR as a Windows Phone developer, $19)
2. then install and run the free Preview for Developers app (Preview for Developers | Windows Phone Apps+Games Store (United States))

This also includes the full suite of additional features that come with WP 8.1 (Cortana, Action Center, 3rd column of tiles, IE 11, and the list goes on and on . . .)

 

[Scott Bradley]

Speaking with the our Mobility team, they indicated that if 8.1 allows Security Profiles similar to Android and IOS, then they will re-evaluate it for BYOD usage.

All corporate content has to be locked down behind the Good for Enterprise tool-set. Good uses these security profiles to ensure the phone is locked with a password and I am sure other oversight services.

My company has 17,000 employees, and maybe 5,000 with a need for connectivity. So this is just not one guy, this is a significant market segment that simply cannot choose to use a Windows phone.

This is going to be a similar story for any large corporation that needs to protect its content. The move from Blackberry was supposed to be a target audience for Windows - so I see this as a major oversight.

I was able to sell my 1020, I really liked the phone and if and when Windows decides it actually wants to provide a phone that large corporations can use, I will definitely get another one.

You can call me seriously disappointed.

 

[Muessig]

If you had kept your 1020 you could have installed 8.1 on it and offered to a a guinea pig to see if the enhanced enterprise abilities in 8.1 would have been enough to clear WP phones. I'd have been surprised if it wasn't.

 

[paulm187]

Looks like I did get a response from the administrator:

"The issue is with Microsoft. They have not built in management capabilities for the device itself. As a requirement from Information Security we must be able to enforce and ensure that a device password and lockout is set. Microsoft has not provided these capabilities to MDM companies like Good yet. "

Just checked Good for Enterprise and their product documentation states the following is available for Windows Phone.

Encrypt data on the device and over the air
Authenticate with strong password enforcement
Wipe lost or stolen devices remotely

What is not available is the following:

Extend mobile collaboration through integration with Good and Good-secured apps
Distribute apps through a secure corporate app store

For the above currently Windows Phone requires a Windows Intune subscription to deploy company apps. So if IT deploy company apps through Good, you will not be able to download them. But it should be fine for e-mail. calendar etc. Windows Phone 8.1 does bring better MDM management so it will be a matter of time when Good will update their app for WP8.1

 

[jmshub]

At my last job, we were evaluating different MDM packages as we were planning to switch off of blackberry handsets. The various MDM packages vary greatly in quality and services that they offer. Hopefully between Microsoft with the 8.1 update and your company's MDM provider, you'll be able to keep your 1020.