For Businesses, Personal Tech Leads to Security Issues | US Daily ...

By Jeremy Morris, Associate Editor, US Daily Review.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is having an increasing impact on the IT service landscape, but new findings in OnForce?s Q3 Confidence Index, a poll that reflects the opinion of more than 500 technology service professionals nationwide, raises red flags regarding the trend. According to the study, more than half of technicians that do BYOD work reported a 25 percent or more increase in the number of requests for personal mobile device configuration and/or setup at businesses in the past six months. What?s alarming: A mere 31 percent of those surveyed have seen an increase in requests for mobile device security during the same timeframe.

?As businesses implement BYOD, there are significant mobile security issues to keep in mind,? said Gene Morris, General Manager at BrightStar Enterprise Solutions Inc, a company at the forefront of the issue that?s tapping OnForce?s platform.? ?I help businesses connect and configure personal mobile devices, and at the same time consult with them about the security risks. As BYOD continues to infiltrate the business environment, we do anticipate a significant uptick in mobile security implementations in the next 8-12 months.?

Mounting Pressure for Instant Expertise

IT service businesses and technicians are under tremendous pressure to constantly expand expertise and broaden skills as new devices and application emerge.? And the explosion of devices isn?t slowing down any time soon. In fact, two out of three technicians surveyed said they?ve seen increased diversity in the devices at the businesses they serve in the past six months. On average, IT service technicians connect approximately 14 personal devices for businesses per service event and the majority (58 percent) reported an increase in the number of devices they typically connect in the past 12 months.

?Carrying a full-time staff of technicians to address on-site IT service requests for every type of technology is costly and ineffective because demand fluctuates and technology changes,? said Peter Cannone, CEO of OnForce. ?Businesses need to take a more dynamic approach to IT service that lets them respond quickly to requests without having to carry a staff of hundreds of technicians with the skills to cover every type of technology out there.?

Slowly Rising Confidence, Falling Outlook

Although still pessimistic, current confidence among IT service technicians has slowly but significantly risen to an all time high in the past nine months from 37 to 45. This increasing optimism about the current economic climate is a positive sign; however, IT service professionals are growing less optimistic about the future.? In fact, the future confidence has dropped to 56, the lowest we?ve seen in 2012.? Interestingly, the percentage of technicians who are uncertain about the future remains high for the fourth quarter in a row, coming in at 25 percent; and those who say the economic climate has had no impact on their business has remained consistent.

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Current Index						Future Index
(Current perception)						(Forecast for the next 6 months)
	Q3 2012	Q2 2012	Q1 2012	Q4 2011			Q3 2012	Q2 2012	Q1 2012	Q4 2011
Positive	33%	27%	27%	25%		Positive	38%	40%	40%	31%
Negative	43%	50%	47%	51%		Negative	21%	20%	19%	27%
No difference	21%	21%	22%	22%		No difference	16%	14%	18%	19%
I don?t know	3%	2%	4%	2%		I don?t know	25%	26%	23%	23%
Current Index	45	39	40	37		Future Index	56	60	61	52

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?Uncertainty surrounding the future has been consistent, but it?s interesting and encouraging to see increasing optimism in the past nine months across the technician community,? added Cannone. ?I?m excited to see what kind of an impact the upcoming presidential election will have on the current and future outlook for IT service technicians.?

Source: http://usdailyreview.com/for-businesses-personal-tech-leads-to-security-issues

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