BYOD isn’t being managed effectively by many IT departments

Over half of UK workers over the age of 18 are using mobile devices and tablets in the workplace that are entirely unmanaged by their organisation’s IT department according to a recently published survey.

A survey of just over 1,000 UK workers commissioned by IT and managed services provider Phoenix shows the while over half (51 per cent) primarily use their own device in the workplace, close to 60 per cent of those workers do not involved their organisation’s IT support in setting up or managing their devices.

Phoenix managing director of partner business Alistair Blaxill said the results demonstrate UK organisations are much more exposed to cyberthreats than most appreciate.

“Mobility is one of the most significant driving forces for the IT sector and an increasing number of people want to be fully connected to work all of the time. However, the emergence of BYOD in the workplace is creating a real challenge for IT departments, with workers using their own unmanaged devices to access corporate networks and sensitive data,” Blaxill said.

“The findings of our survey underline this trend in the UK and it reinforces the need for businesses to stay on top of how employees access IT and ensure that they are appropriately protected.”

Blaxill said the best way to ensure IT can adequately protect these devices is by changing the way they interact with employees – and to speed up delivery of support services to incentivise bringing IT into the fold.

“Employees’ attitudes to IT support are changing and they want instant, real-time solutions to their device issues. Our survey tells us that just 23 per cent and 32 per cent of workers received their IT support either primarily face-to-face or a mix of face-to-face and remotely respectively. Savvy employers are now looking to provide workers with an IT support service that mirrors the personal experience they receive outside of work when resolving issues with their own personal devices.”