Most IT managers are concerned over personal devices at work

Dell Kace has published its findings from a new survey about the consumerization of IT, and the results are not entirely positive.

By Rachel King for Between the Lines | September 12, 2011 -- 03:00 GMT (20:00 PDT) | Topic: Developer

The vast majority of business employees today are using personal devices such as laptops, mobile phones and tablets for work-related purposes, but a new survey finds that the "consumerization of IT" is potentially quite dangerous.

The survey, conducted by Dimensional Research and commissioned by Dell Kace, is based off of the results of 750 IT professionals worldwide.

Specifically, roughly 87 percent of respondents said that their employees are using their own gadgets on work networks, but 62 percent of IT managers feel that they lack the necessary tools to properly manage these devices and keep their networks safe. Thus, there lies a major problem as malware and other more choreographed hack attacks are increasing at a rapid pace.

Diane Hagglund, a senior research analyst for Dimensional Research and the study’s author, explained in a statement that although mobile devices are becoming ubiquitous for most employees who want to be connected anywhere, anytime, there are still many concerns:

Consumer products are evolving into viable businesses tools, but according to our research, the majority of companies do not have a proper strategy in place to manage these devices which opens them up to serious security risks. Consumerization of IT is not simply a passing trend — it is the way business will be conducted on an ongoing basis, especially in the small and medium business (SMB) market, so it is critical that companies put policies and standards into place to support these devices to ensure the security of corporate and intellectual property.

Other highlights from the survey:

88 percent of survey respondents want to have a policy in place regarding personal devices
82 percent are concerned about the use of personal devices for work purposes
64 percent are not confident that they know of all personal devices being used for work purposes
60 percent reported a greater demand for support of Mac OS X since the introduction of the Apple iPad and iPhone
59 percent reported that personal devices have created the need for organizations to support multiple operating systems
32 percent admit that employees use unauthorized personal devices and applications to connect to their network

[Image via Dell Kace]