Spiceworks Survey Finds SMBs Favor BYOD but Cite Security Concerns
Spiceworks Survey Finds SMBs Favor BYOD but Cite Security Concerns by UCStrategies Staff
According to a survey titled “As BYOD Becomes Mainstream, Complexity Increases for SMBs” conducted by Spiceworks, it is apparent that there is much support for BYOD initiatives among SMBs, but concern relating to security as a result of employee loss, theft, or misuse of mobile devices.
The study found that 61 percent of SMBs have established a BYOD policy for employee-owned smartphones, tablets or computers, yet only 37 percent of those are able to manage or plan to manage mobile devices via a mobile device management (MDM) offering. Fiberlink, a key provider of mobility management solutions for businesses, sponsored the independent study.
The Spiceworks study surveyed 991 SMB IT professionals, which sought to understand how BYOD initiatives and devices are managed by companies.
Some key points the survey highlights are that employee-owned smartphones are supported by 54 percent of SMBs and 42 percent support tablets through a BYOD initiative. Twenty-five percent support employee-owned computers. Of the 61 percent of companies that have BYOD policies, 91 and 92 percent of those support Apple iPhone and iPad devices respectively. Google Android-based smartphones are supported by 90 percent, and Android-based tablets by 83 percent.
Furthermore, fewer than 250 employees in smaller SMBs will have a BYOD policy, and 69 percent state that they support BYOD today. BYOD support is provided at 53 percent of mid-sized businesses with 250-999 employees. A third of IT professionals stated that BYOD policy works well for some devices, but not for others, and 23 percent say that it is a problem for their departments. Only 17 percent embrace the trend.
Additionally, only 17 percent of organizations that support BYOD are able to manage mobile devices via MDM, and a further 20 percent are seeking to address the management of mobile devices in the next six months. Fifty-sixe percent, on the other hand, are not concerned with finding an MDM solution at this time.
Companies that have over 250 employees have a higher adoption rate of MDM technologies, and 21 percent have already adopted or are currently putting this into place, and 25 percent seek to do so in the next six months.
With regard to the reason as to why an MDM solution has not been implemented, 49 percent stated that the security threat is not a huge issue, despite recognizing that they do exist. Thirty-six percent noted that a lack of knowledge was the reason they had not deployed MDM technology, and 34 percent cited pricing reasons.
The program manager at Voice of IT, Spiceworks, Kathryn Pribish, said: “It’s clear BYOD support will continue to grow so the industry conversation must evolve from ‘whether to how’ IT organizations can better manage and secure the devices employees bring to work each day. The results of the survey also highlight an opportunity for mobile device management vendors to help SMBs understand the issues associated with BYOD policies and how MDM offerings can help.” (CY) Link