BYOD Gives Competitive Advantage, Say IT Managers

Over 80 percent of IT managers think that enterprises with a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy hold a competitive advantage over other organizations, according to research commissioned by BT.

The research, which surveyed attitudes towards employees' use of their own laptops, tablets and smartphones for work, covered 2,000 IT users and IT managers in 11 countries and from a range of sectors. It suggests that BYOD has arrived -- over four in five companies say they already allow BYOD or will do so within the next 24 months and sixty per cent of employees claim they are already allowed to connect personally-owned devices to the corporate network.

The study reveals that both employees and decision makers are positive about the opportunities presented by the growing use of personal devices on corporate networks. Sixty-four percent of IT managers think that having a BYOD policy will enable employees to be more productive. Forty-eight percent think it will also allow employees to work more flexibly and 47 percent think it will enable employees to serve customers better. This sentiment is shared by employees -- 42 percent of employees using their own device for work believe that they are more efficient and productive as a result.

Despite these benefits IT managers are nervous. Only one in ten think that all BYOD users recognize the risks and less than one in five believe all users understand the access/permissions related to their mobile devices. And it appears IT managers are nervous with some justification. Of employees who use their own device for work, one in three see "no risk" in using their own device in a work context and just a quarter recognize the significant risk they pose to company security.

Thirty-nine percent of enterprises have experienced a security breach due to employees bringing in unauthorized devices -- most commonly in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and pharmaceuticals sectors. More than four out of five (83 percent) of IT decision makers believe that putting 24/7 access to corporate systems into the hands of an increasingly mobile workforce is now the main threat to corporate IT security.

More information on BYOD can be found at www.SupportIndustry.com