By Bill Melo, Toshiba

Without a doubt, BYOD is exponentially gaining widespread acceptance as market research company, Gartner predicts 85 percent of all organizations will allow their employees to use their own tablet and smartphones from 9 to 5 by the year 2020. Though many of these individuals will certainly choose to reduce their number of prints, another noted market research company, IDC anticipates half of this crowd will require the need to print from their mobile devices.

A question any CIO should ask is: are these vast amounts of documents printed securely? As with any technology, it is great when it works and – as some Hollywood celebrities may attest on the subject of poorly encrypted photo sharing sites – a disaster when it doesn’t. Though much of what I print from my smartphone and tablet is relatively inconsequential to our operations, there are times when I need to print sensitive files.

Fortunately, there are a number of steps IT can implement to prevent such documents from getting into unintended hands. To properly secure document output, your IT department should integrate such safeguards as password protection user authentication and, user and usage tracking.

By incorporating proprietary as well as partner’s network document solutions, Toshiba is one manufacturer that enhances the integrity of its customers’ documents printed via a smart device. Though technology is certainly a core element of securing mobile prints, an organization’s IT executive must also raise awareness about the importance of doing so while receiving employee buy-in to ensure it gets done.

As with most any organization, the most valuable asset it has is the intellectual property or content it creates. Considering a vast majority of today’s workforce and tomorrow’s employees will likely print files via a smart device, it is imperative your company takes the necessary actions to protect this information.

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