CDW LLC (CDW), a leading provider of technology solutions to business, government, education and health care, recently published The Mobility Edge: CDW’s 2012 Small Business Mobility Report, which is based on a survey of 752 mobile device users and IT professionals from U.S. small businesses in five industries about their use of smartphones, tablets and laptops. The report focuses on trends in small business use of mobile technology, such as bring your own device (BYOD) and use of productivity-enhancing apps; the challenges of mobility, such as managing security of mobile devices and reducing the risk they pose to company networks and data; and what small businesses can do better with the advanced capabilities of today’s mobility solutions.

The survey found that almost all small business users surveyed (94 percent) believe their mobile devices make them more efficient, and most (67 percent) believe their companies would lose competitive ground without those devices – which may explain why IT managers surveyed report that 89 percent of their employees use personally owned mobile devices for work. There is some risk, though, and just 51 percent of those IT managers say their company has an effective strategy for managing and securing all of those additional devices.