BYOD has become an attractive option, alongside with cloud computing, for organizations looking to simultaneously increase employee productivity and decrease equipment costs. However, there are important considerations to be made when implementing a BYOD policy of which security is the most important. When considering the fact that many federal agencies have looked to BYOD for the benefits it provides, the issue of handling security in a mixed-device environment becomes even more vital as confidential information is present in each department.

Despite this, a recent report from Telework Exchange states that of the 55 percent of federal smartphone users that use their device for both work and personal use, one out of three don't protect that device with a password. However, another study from FCW states that the money being saved from productivity gains each year numbers in the billions.

As such, it's obvious that BYOD in the government is here to stay, but the device use must be managed properly. Fortunately, many agencies have begun to rely on mobile device management (MDM) and mobile security solutions to leverage the benefits of BYOD, while still keeping their networks safe.

In fact, the National Oceanic (News - Alert) and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) — an agency that works within the United States Department of Commerce that is in charge of studying and predicting weather, climate, oceans and coasts — recently implemented MaaS360 by Fiberlink to handle its MDM needs. NOAA stated that Fiberlink's MDM and mobile application management (MAM) solutions will help expand its mobile initiatives, while providing adequate BYOD security control.

"MaaS360 provides NOAA with a scalable, enterprise class MDM solution that gives us mobile flexibility in a secure environment," said Joe Klimavicz, CIO at NOAA, in a statement. "The solution easily integrates into our current architecture and provides a robust set of tools to manage our existing, as well as future, mobile device requirements."

It's expected that NOAA's use of this technology will impact other agencies as well, particularly the U.S. Census Bureau and National Institute of Standards and Technology.