As BYOD Grows, Uncertainty Remains Over How to Implement

While bring your own device (BYOD) and similar consumer-driven IT initiatives are becoming more widely accepted, there is no real consensus yet on the best method for supporting BYOD. This is according to a survey of 600 enterprise IT professionals conducted by Matrix42, a leading supplier of workplace management solutions.

The survey found that nearly two-thirds of respondents said there is some level of acceptance of BYOD by their IT department, and almost 80 percent of organizations have identified mobile device management solutions as a key component of their IT offerings in the next two years. However, more than 30 percent of respondents said their organization does not currently employ solutions to manage BYOD, and there is no clear solution leading the way for those that have deployed something.

Click through for results from a survey on current BYOD management and support, conducted by Matrix42.

• 64 percent of respondents said their IT organization either supports or tolerates BYOD with 24 percent officially supporting it.
• An additional seven percent said BYOD is not currently supported, but it is planned.
• Only 29 percent said BYOD is prohibited.

• A clear majority of respondents (78 percent) said mobile device management will be extremely or very important in the next two years.
• Only two percent said MDM would be unimportant.

• 31 percent said their organizations do not use technology that enables BYOD.
• Only 15 percent said they used MDM to enable BYOD.
• 16 percent said they used desktop virtualization solutions.
• Remaining respondents said their organizations used Web apps, self-service portals, client management or IT service management to enable BYOD.

• 31 percent of respondents said IT was driving BYOD initiatives in their organization.
• 23 percent said it was the executive board or managing director.
• 21 percent said no one in their organization.

• 78 percent of respondents said the security of company data was either extremely or very challenging.
• IT losing control:56 percent said extremely or very challenging.
• But device complexity is not seen as extremely or very challenging by 62 percent of respondents.