Many big businesses started small and have grown big over time. This growth is normally measured in terms of sales, profitability, expanding operations, turnover and the like. In today’s world, a growing business is expected to have adopted technology as a major force driving its growth. Desktop Computers, Servers, Laptops, Data Centers, Smart phones, Storage Area Networks (SANs), Virtualization, Routers, Cloud Computing, Switches, Internet and many others have become necessary technology tools and techniques to drive traditional selling and buying and accessing the factors that affect the forces of demand and supply.
Administration of these technology tools in the Enterprise have also become a big task. Apart from ensuring that these infrastructures are available and at optimum performance, employees also have to be guided on the acceptable usage of business infrastructure. This is very necessary in order to prevent abuse of infrastructure usage which may in turn have negative effects on the smooth running of the enterprise. This is where an Acceptable Use Policy comes in.
An Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is a document containing the set of rules guiding the use of the technology devices and infrastructure made available for the purpose of the business. The AUP is also an integral part of the IT Security Policy of the organization and new employees may be required to sign this document before they can have access to the information systems in the enterprise. The AUP also makes life easy for the IT support team in the enterprise as the document clearly states the limits in simple terms, penalties for breaches are also clearly stated. Many businesses today run their operations with no Acceptable Use Policy in place and by so doing expose the enterprise to avoidable risks that may have a permanent dent on the image of the business.
So which path should the enterprise toe? Whatever the decision arrived at, it should be noted that where there is no law, there is no transgression.
