"I use my personal computer for work as well and work uses exchange and many of my contacts got stored in the work exchange contact list and I am no longer with eh company and need to transfer all those email addresses over to my 2010 Outlook contact list. Need to know how to do this quickly."
Each of those are actual questions I've received in the last year from folks who used their own devices (BYOD) for work purposes and have, or are about to, separate from their firms. In each case, unbeknownst to their employer apparently, they've taken work data with them out the door. How many of your former employees have done the same? Do you have a procedure as part of your exit process to ask about personal tech and removing company data from their personal devices before they leave? Why not?
"I left my firm 6 months ago but I still have their email on my iPhone. How do I get that off of there?"
When it comes to company data your exit process should include:
- Inquiring about BYOD and ensuring company data is wiped from it. This should include smartphones, tablets, laptops and personal cloud services like Dropbox or GMail.
- Checking back in any and all company-owned equipment including keys, flash drives, laptops and key cards.
- Removing or disabling employee accounts including remote access.
- Changing the passwords on any accounts or systems the departing employee might know.
Even if the employee is leaving on seemingly good terms, it's always best practice to make sure former employees aren't still accessing your company systems or data. When's the last time you checked your systems to make sure only current employees still have accounts on it? You may be surprised.
