Bring-your-own IT spreads in Australian enterprises

Increasing numbers of employees in Australian enterprises are bringing their own smartphones and laptops into the workplace, prompting some companies to introduce ‘bring-your-own IT’ policies in order to handle the challenges these devices create.

A Citrix Systems study - known as the Bring Your Own (BYO) Index - surveyed 100 Australian CIOs at companies of 500 or more employees and found that around 20% of the workforce are using their own IT devices at work.

According to the study, this figure is set to increase to around 26% within two years.

Dubbed by some as ‘the consumerisation of IT’, this phenomenon creates several challenges for IT administrators, particularly around security of information and network security.

Some experts have even suggested giving up entirely as the best means to cope with employee devices and mobility.

The Citrix study found that 40% of organisations have some form of policy in place to deal with these devices and predicts that this number will jump to 78% within one year.

“There are two reasons that BYO is being embraced within organisations,” stated Mick Hollison, Vice President, Desktop Marketing & Strategy, for Citrix.

“There are those that are using BYO to keep up with the rapid consumerisation of enterprise IT and then there are forward-thinking CIOs who have embraced BYO as a way to attract the best talent, encourage a flexible working environment and raise productivity levels,” Hollison said.