3 Ridiculously Quick Tips to Develop an EUC Policy

End-user computing (EUC) has fast become one of the most common facets of business, not least thanks to the ubiquity of applications such as Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets. Some estimates bring the total number of users of both programs combined to almost 1 billion, and that doesn’t even take into account the many other types of EUC software.

This means businesses need to develop their own EUC policies, and fast. While there are clear benefits to the technology, there are also plenty of risks. Looking solely at spreadsheets as an example, it’s thought that around 90% of spreadsheets over 150 rows in size contain errors.

When more complicated applications come into play, things can get even more problematic. What happens when one of your employees puts a lot of effort into a custom program, then leaves your organization without sharing their passwords? A policy will prevent things like this from happening. Here are three tips to get one created as quickly as possible.

1. Base it around the applications you use

First of all, make sure your policy fits the applications you actually use. Part of this involves defining what EUC means for your organization.

If you don’t start with a good definition of what EUC means for your company, you can end up getting confused about what your policy actually needs to include, which will significantly slow down its creation.

2. Prioritize your business-critical documents

Ian Cleaver, vice president of product and professional services at ClusterSeven, points out that you don’t want to end up trying to solve all of your EUC issues in one go. It’s much more efficient - especially at the initial stages of policy creation - to work on the most high-priority documents and applications first.

You should look for which of your EUC documents and programs can be counted as ‘business-critical’. This will mean different things for different organizations, but if you’re dealing with something that contains data that will go to clients, be used in other software or poses a high risk to your business if lost, it probably counts as critical.

3. Secure your devices

Cybersecurity is no laughing matter, and with security breaches having increased by 67% since 2014 it’s clear this is something your EUC policy needs to consider. In this particular case, one of the main issues you’ll come across is employees using unsecured devices to access EUC applications.

If an employee leaves a laptop on the train or loses their smartphone, you don’t want it to cause a major security breach for your company. However, a policy that ensures nobody is logged into your EUC software while not using it can reduce this risk. Consider your business’ unique risks as well to ensure your EUC policy is as encompassing as possible.