The Hidden Cost of BYOD
In today’s cloud-based, connected work environment, more and more small businesses are choosing to implement a bring your own device (BYOD) policy. In the interest of avoiding the substantial initial investment required to purchase computers for every employee, companies are encouraging their team to work from their own laptops and smartphones. Certainly, a BYOD saves money — in the short term but in the long run, the early savings are far outweighed by the risks and costs of a BYOD policy. Consider the security of your network, for instance. Every device that is allowed to freely access your business network is a potential access point for cybercriminals. With this in mind, business owners need to ensure that every one of the laptops and phones used are equipped with the appropriate security protocols, whether that’s a specific anti-virus, firewall, the latest software update, or a backup procedure — preferably, all of the above. Implementing any of these procedures could potentially restrict or hamper your employees’ at-home activities done on their device, like Netflix or gaming. If it does, and even if it doesn’t, your employees may decide to switch off or circumvent these vital security barriers without your knowledge, leaving the entirety of your network and data wide open to attack. Many business owners imagine that a BYOD policy will enable employees to work from anywhere. In reality, it’s often a huge hassle getting your employees’ devices to access company resources properly, partly because most are equipped with Windows Home Edition instead of Windows
Professional, which is specifically geared to interface properly with your servers.
What’s more, all the at-home activities your employees (and especially their kids) engage in on their devices can clog up their PCs to the point that they don’t function properly at work. Then, an IT professional is called in, and your business is forced to foot the bill to fix problems that normally would not be associated with business computers. In the end, the money you save by avoiding buying your employees’ machines is later spent on fixing repetitive performance issues, making up for reduced employee productivity, and network security crises. BYOD may work well as a stopgap solution or added benefit, but to use employees’ devices as the workhorses of your company is almost always a bad idea. Colcannon When you think of St. Patrick’s Day cuisine, corned beef and green beer are probably the first things that come to mind. This year, consider adding colcannon to your March 17 menu. It’s basically mashed potatoes on steroids, and it’s utterly delicious.
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Ingredients
• • • •
3 pounds potatoes
•
1 pound cooked bacon, chopped into small pieces 4 scallions, finely chopped
2 sticks butter
1 1/4 cups hot milk
• • •
1 head cabbage, cored and shredded
Parsley, for garnish
Salt and pepper, to taste
Directions
1. Steam potatoes for 30
3. Boil cabbage in water. Add 2 tablespoons of butter to tenderize. 4. Add cabbage, bacon, and scallions to mashed potatoes, gently stirring to combine. 5. Serve garnished with parsley and a pat of butter.
minutes. Peel skins and mash flesh thoroughly.
2. Chop 1 stick of butter into
small cubes and add to warm potatoes. Once melted, slowly add milk, stirring constantly.
[Inspired by foodnetwork.com]
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