Black Friday is just around the bend and the mobile landscape is abounding with tablet and smartphone options. How will you play mobility safe heading into this holiday season?

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs outlined several rules that should be followed by organizations hoping to leverage new technologies in "the age of mobility."

Mobile Device Security Measures What measures are you taking to address the bring your own device (BYOD) trend? Narrowing support down to specific devices may be a tempting approach. Some CIOs are saying "no" all together. As easy as each of these sound, they may be eliminated as options for CIOs moving forward. This assertion comes from a recent report by IDG News Service, highlighting a panel discussion that took place at the MIT Sloan CIO Symposium in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The panel fervently discussed BYOD and affirmed the critical role that mobile device management (MDM) has had in assisting IT and the enterprise as a whole. "IT departments can either support [the BYOD trend] or be a receiver of the fallout," said Rob Stefanic, CIO of Sensata Technology According to Stefanic, Sensata didn't completely understand the consequences of employees connecting to the network with mobile devices when the company adopted a cloud-based platform in 2007. The current goal for IT is to reduce the impact of security breaches without limiting employee access to company data.It can be tough to find a balance between security and freedom, but the first step is knowledge. To discover the essential demands BYOD policies should meet, read The Ten Commandments of BYOD.

Product Marketing Manager

 by Christopher Clark, President — Fiberlink

Wondering where everyone's been? If you're coming off of a quiet weekend, chances are high that your friends, family, and co-workers have been busily acquainting themselves with their new iPads, released on March 16th. The newest addition to the famed tablet family has gathered plenty of interest from a range of demographics, and IT pros are no exception.

Similar to shoppers in the trenches of a local Apple store, K-12 schools have made it a top priority to get their hands on the latest gadgets and technology. Teachers are calling for bundles of iPads to be delivered for their students, and its popularity has spread nationwide. To get a picture for what I'm talking about, Apple reported in September at least 600 school districts had begun implementing one-to-one programs where at least one classroom makes a tablet available to every student. Its quite an anomaly whenever a consumer-driven technology can take the learning process such a long way. But who's complaining? Increased engagement is the very reason demand for the iPad continues to increase. It gives young learners something they enjoy using when they're not in the classroom and puts it right in front of them. An added benefit is the ability to stay up-to-date on material. The last thing a school district on a tight budget wants to do is buy in to the repeated process of textbook replacement.