Consumerisation of IT fuels security fears

Despite the majority of employees are using personal laptops and other mobile devices for work-related purposes, a striking majority are concerend about security concerns from their use.

A global report published today by Dell KACE today Dell's research suggests that 87% of companies have employees that use some kind of personal device for work including laptops, smartphones and tablet computers; however, they are unable to effectively protect corporate data and intellectual property as well as ensure compliance. The report also shows that 62% of the 750 senior IT professionals feel they lack the necessary tools to properly manage personal devices.

“Consumer products are evolving into viable businesses tools, but according to our research, the majority of companies do not have a proper strategy in place to manage these devices. This opens them up to serious security risks,” said Diane Hagglund, senior research analyst for Dimensional Research and the study’s author. “Consumerisation of IT is not simply a passing trend. It is the way business will be conducted on an ongoing basis, especially in the SME market, so it is critical that companies put policies and standards into place to support these devices, and ensure the security of corporate and intellectual property.”

Personal devices continue to proliferate across businesses as users see the value in being more mobile, efficient and connected. The primary goal of the Consumerisation of IT: A Survey of IT Professionals study was to gather data about the use of employee personal devices for business and corporate policy for their adoption in the workplace. According to the research, security needs top the list for IT managers when it comes to managing external mobile devices with 82 percent citing their concerns about the use of personal devices for business use, and another 62 percent specifically concerned about network security breaches.

Key survey findings include:

•87% of respondents reported employees use personal devices for work purposes;
•59% reported their personal devices have created the need for organisations to support multiple operating systems (OS’s). Further, 60 percent reported a greater demand for support of Mac OS X since the introduction of the Apple iPad and iPhone;
•82% of survey respondents cited they have concerns about the use of personal devices for work purposes;
•64% revealed they are not confident that they know of all personal devices being used for business purposes;
•32% revealed employees use unauthorised personal devices and applications to connect to their network;
•88% said they believe it is important to have a policy in place to support personal devices, and another 62% revealed their organisation lacks the necessary tools to manage personal devices.

“The results of our latest survey represent a significant shift in how systems administrators manage their organisation’s networks with today’s disparate and potentially global workforce," says Rob Meinhardt, general manager and co-founder for Dell KACE. "It’s absolutely essential that IT teams deploy a strategy that provides end-to-end management capabilities on a variety of operating systems to effectively protect networks and address the consumerisation and personalisation of IT,”

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