BYOD Security Remains a Top Business Concern

Despite 80 percent of respondents agreeing that bring your own device (BYOD) is the “new normal,” only 45 percent have a formal BYOD policy in their workplace and only 51 percent were considering Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) as a solution to access data from their mobile devices, according to a survey of more than 700 IT decision makers by managed cloud services provider NaviSite.

According to the survey, 68 percent of respondents said they were very concerned or extremely concerned when thinking about securing enterprise data on employee mobile devices–one of the biggest concerns facing IT executives with BYOD policies is securing company data.

“For years organizations have been trying to tackle the challenges of BYOD; more people are demanding to use their own devices for work, giving them access to sensitive data, and IT departments are struggling to figure out how to secure and manage it,” Chris Patterson, vice president of product management for NaviSite, said in a statement. “When you add the growth of mobile and remote workforces, now there’s an even greater need to make sure workers can access the information they need when they need it, regardless of device. DaaS is a really simple way for IT executives to have increased control over corporate intellectual property while providing more flexibility for today’s workforce demands.”

Despite an extreme concern over security, only 18 percent of respondents said they had considered BYOD a motivator for implementing DaaS. However, 42 percent said employee demand is driving the need. Those surveyed said that teleworkers and simplified desktop management were they primary motivators for DaaS. In addition, 67 percent of those surveyed said that performance and reliability issues were the primary concerns around implementing virtual desktops.

“Largely driven by an increasingly burdened IT team and a tech-savvy workforce experiencing growing pains, the campaign for virtual desktop management is progressing rapidly,” the report concluded. “Enterprises are acknowledging the importance of simplified desktop management as a means to streamline operations, to augment security, and to effectively control business-critical resources.”

The NaviSite study is one of many illustrating the challenges facing the implementation of BYOD policies and the numerous concerns IT pros are facing. In addition to employer concerns, a recent survey suggested employees are wary about company access to their private data.

In an Aruba survey of more than 3,000 employees worldwide, 66 percent of U.S. workers said they feared the loss of personal information from their personal device. In addition, just over half (51 percent) percent of U.S. workers said their IT departments do nothing to ensure the security of corporate files and applications on their personal devices. Another 11 percent said they would not immediately tell their employers if their personal devices were compromised, even if it resulted in corporate information being leaked.