The data reveals that small-and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are coming under growing pressure to enable their employees to use their personal smartphones, tablets and other devices for business use.
Some 25 percent of companies are already supporting the use of such devices in the workplace, and many are benefitting from a significant increase of 30 percent in productivity, as their employees are able to work anywhere, anytime from any device. However, 62 percent of businesses surveyed have no controls in place to manage these devices, and 45 percent of IT managers are unaware of all the devices being used, raising questions regarding security and privacy.
“The nature of work continues to change,” said Brett Caine, SVP and GM, Citrix. “The survey shows that employees are using new consumer devices in the workplace for both business and personal use. Organisations need to respond to this trend by developing policies to address new mobile work styles that can drive productivity through more flexible working, while safeguarding the use of data and sensitive information.”
The Citrix survey was undertaken to understand the global use and management of personal communications devices in the workplace to support the growing demands for workforce flexibility. Conducted by YouGov and Research Now between May 2011 and August 2011, the survey polled more than 1100 senior executives and IT managers across Australia, France, Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States.
The Citrix findings for the UK were as follows
57 percent have no policies, procedures or IT systems in place to manage the use of personal devices for business purposes.
Only half of UK firms (54 percent) are aware of all the devices their staff are using for business purposes - yet even this is well ahead of the European average of 43 percent.
In 45 percent of firms surveyed, employees already use their own devices for business purposes.
33 percent of businesses have recorded productivity improvements of more than 10 percent, with 11 percent confirming gains of more than 30 percent.
32 percent of firms are most concerned over the security implications of allowing application and document downloads and 29 percent are concerned over remote access to the corporate network.