When iPads debuted in the office, IT commonly responded in one of two ways. Some put their head in the sand, prohibiting the use of personal devices and tablets. Others distributed some instructions for VPN access and hoped for the best. At best, these approaches merely kicked the bucket down the road.

Tablets and smart phones are here to stay and desire on the part of workers to use personal devices for business is only growing stronger. Furthermore, tablets are tablets; they are not laptops. VPN for mobile devices doesn’t get workers very far, considering that most tablets and smart phones do not support the file systems and Windows applications that make laptops useful.

There are more reasons VPN and BYOD don’t mix. VPNs create a tunnel between the corporate network and remote or mobile devices, essentially making them a part of the network. In other words, VPNs actually enable sensitive business data to leave the network. This is serviceable for managed laptops that can be locked down and are not intended for personal use.

Personal devices are another animal altogether; IT doesn’t have the authority to lock them down or to dictate what they may or may not be used for. In addition, mobile devices outnumber laptops and are far more prone to becoming lost or stolen. Using VPN to directly connect these devices to the corporate network is a recipe for disaster.

Each device represents an attack vector for malicious activity and the potential for data leakage. It is also worth considering that wiping personal as a result of needing to wipe corporate data remains a legal gray area.

To avoid the VPN and BYOD dilemma, many organizations are turning to remote desktop to support BYOD. Using remote desktop, any application that resides on a corporate laptop, desktop PC, virtual desktop or terminal server can be published to personal tablets and smart phones. This has the dual benefit of making the applications employees need to be productive available on mobile devices and also eliminating the need for mobile devices to directly connect to the corporate network.

Data never leaves the network and data never resides on personal mobile devices. Using remote desktop in place of VPN, workers get the apps they need on the devices they choose and IT can credibly address BYOD without risking corporate security and compliance or making career-limiting decisions.