"With more managers working from out of the office than ever before, it's important we provide remote employees with instant access to the network without compromising on security," Andrea says.

Clint Andrea, IT director, Northern Star Council Boy Scouts of America (Photo courtesy of Ryan Siemers Photo + Design)

An organization exploring iPad use isn't anything new, but the Northern Star Council has taken a somewhat different path. Andrea is using BYOD as a test bed for iPads, as well as a new cloud-based virtual private network service that doesn't require much startup costs or end-user hoops to jump through.

The Northern Star Council isn't just some Boy Scouts troop; it serves 75,000 kids and 21,000 adult volunteers in 25 counties. On the tech side, Andrea and another IT staffer support 150 workstations, 30 printers and 18 servers. All tallied, 108 employees spread out in two offices and remote sites tap the network daily.

Recently, a handful of employees wanted their iPads to plug into the network.