Businesses caught off-guard by influx of personal devices - Business Works
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Businesses caught off-guard by influx of personal devices

Phil Birbeck, MD of Equanet As a follow-up to our previous article on the subject, Phil Birbeck, MD of Equanet tells of how three quarters of employees are already using their own devices in the workplace, but only one in seven businesses has a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policy.

The survey of over 1000 IT managers and directors across the UK has shown that the benefit of personally-owned devices seems to have already been felt, with 76 per cent saying that personal devices increase productivity in the workplace.

The survey consistently uncovered the disparity between the quality of personally owned devices and company hardware. One in four (24%) UK businesses have been forced to update their own IT equipment because of the difference in performance compared to personally-owned devices, showing that employees are now leading the way when it comes to technology innovation.

However, only one in seven (14%) businesses has an established BYOD scheme, despite their popularity amongst employees. Clearly it is not high on the agenda for HR and employee benefits packages as, of those asked, 62% said their business did not have a BYOD policy in place and 24% were not even sure.

"Personally-owned devices are often faster and more efficient than the IT equipment businesses can afford to provide," commented Phil. "Recent advances in smartphones and tablets have revolutionised the way we work and blurred the distinction between social and office usage. As a result, the popularity of personally-owned devices has been rapid and inevitable.

Over half (54%) of business don’t encourage employees to use their own devices. Two thirds (66%) don’t currently contribute towards the purchase of personally-owned devices and 43% have no intention of ever doing so. Three in ten (28%) of businesses intend to contribute to the purchase of personally-owned devices, but haven’t yet formalised a BYOD policy.

"We’ve found that 29% of businesses have actually saved money from their IT budget by implementing BYOD policies," continued Phil. "A structured BYOD scheme, integrated by IT solutions experts, is vital for modern businesses as it standardises the equipment used in the workplace, keeps employees happy and harnesses the array of technological innovations found in smartphones and tablets for the business."

The most popular personal devices in the workplace were iPhones (81%), followed by iPads (71%), laptops (34%) and Blackberries (19%).



For more information, please visit: www.equanet.co.uk/




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