Businesses Unprepared to Support New Mobile Ways of Working

Printer-friendly versionPDF version

Citrix Survey reveals a lack of policies for managing the changing nature of work as personal devices are increasingly used to access company information

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. » 11/21/2011 »

Citrixtoday announced findings from a recent global survey that examined how consumer-focused communications devices are being increasingly adopted in the workplace. The data reveals that small-and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are coming under growing pressure to enable their employees to use their personal smartphones, tablets and other devices for business use. Some 25 percent of companies are already supporting the use of such devices in the workplace, and many are benefitting from a significant increase of 30 percent in productivity, as their employees are able towork anywhere, anytimefrom any device. However, 62 percent of businesses surveyed have no controls in place to manage these devices, and 45 percent ofIT managersare unaware of all the devices being used, raising questions regarding security and privacy.

“The nature of work continues to change,” said Brett Caine, SVP and GM, Citrix. “The survey shows that employees are using new consumer devices in the workplace for both business and personal use. Organizations need to respond to this trend by developing policies to address new mobile work styles that can drive productivity through more flexible working, while safeguarding the use of data and sensitive information.”

The Citrix survey was undertaken to understand the global use and management of personal communications devices in the workplace to support the growing demands for workforce flexibility. Conducted by YouGov and Research Now between May 2011 and August 2011, the survey polled more than 1100 senior executives and IT managers across Australia, France, Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States.

Results Summary

Over the past few years, businesses globally have come under significant commercial, regulatory and environmental pressure to enable greater workforce mobility. With this demand, 57 percent of IT managers are most concerned over the security implications of employees using personal devices for business. However, as indicated by the survey, more than half of business executives and IT managers are unaware of all personal devices used for business purposes, and lack an employee personal device policy.

Although many businesses lack a policy for managing employee’s personal devices for work, 38 percent of businesses globally do have a process or tool to manage and account for consumer devices. These organizations are encouragingflexible workand a personal device policy supported by the adoption of online support and monitoring tools that include the highest levels of security. Businesses that are quick to adapt to these changes are experiencing significant improvements in productivity when personal devices are also used for business purposes. Productivity has increased up to 20 percent for many organizations with a further 17 percent confirming even greater gains.

In response to the use of personal devices for work, a number of technology solutions are enabling businesses to take advantage of the benefits of workforce mobility, at the same time ensuring network security. For example, Citrix has extended its range of“GoTo” solutionsto enable remote device monitoring and management, remote access, easy collaboration, secure file storage, transfer and sharing, and remote IT support via a range of consumer devices including the iPad, iPhone, as well as Android devices. Additionally, the full Citrix product portfolio, including XenDesktop, Receiver and VDI-in-a-Box, gives IT the power to say yes to personal devices and to deliver a mix of applications and data to them, without compromising security, manageability or user experience.

“It is no longer building for PC versus Mac,” said Caine. “It is designing for the ubiquitous device changing the nature of work to anywhere, anytime.”

Increasing Pressures for Flexible Work Practices Calls for New Thinking about IT

In addition to the proliferation of personal devices used for work, businesses are also feeling pressure to adopt more flexible work practices that promote better work-life balance for employees. According to this Citrix survey, 35 percent of the participants say they are under greater pressure than five years ago to offer more flexibility for employees.

As more companies adopt the practice of allowing the use of personal devices and embrace more flexible working schedules, an opportunity arises for IT to change the way they work. This includes adopting new services to proactively monitor, manage and support the increasing mobile workforce, ensuring business continuity and minimal lost productivity of people working away from the office. IT managers also need to be able to work more efficiently, supporting people and machines from anywhere.

”The growth of mobile devices, bridging both personal and work use, represents new opportunities for IT support.  The edge of the company network is extended while software ubiquity and complexity rapidly increases.” said Elizabeth Cholawsky, VP and GM of IT Services, Citrix. “Enabling support, monitoring and managing remote and mobile workers is now a de facto requirement for IT to ensure highly productive and effective businesses.”

Survey Top Findings: Global

Regional breakdown

Australia

Germany

France

United Kingdom

U.S.

About Citrix Systems, Inc.

Citrix Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTXS) is a leading provider of virtual computing solutions that help people work and play from anywhere on any device. More than 230,000 enterprises rely on Citrix to create better ways for people, IT and business to work through virtual meetings, desktops and datacenters. Citrix virtualization, networking and cloud solutions deliver over 100 million corporate desktops and touch approximately 75 percent of Internet users each day. Citrix partners with over 10,000 companies in 100 countries. Annual revenue in 2010 was $1.87 billion. Learn more atwww.citrix.com.

The Online Services Division of Citrix provides secure, easy-to-use cloud-based solutions that enable people to work from anywhere with anyone. Whether using GoToMeeting® to hold online meetings, GoToWebinar® to conduct larger web events, GoToTraining® to train customers or employees, GoToMyPC® to access and work on a remote Mac® or PC, GoToAssist® to support customers or GoToManage® for IT support and management, businesses and individuals are increasing productivity, decreasing travel costs and improving sales, training and service on a global basis. For more information, visitwww.citrixonline.com.

# # #

Citrix®, GoToMeeting®, GoToWebinar®, GoToTraining® and HiDef Corporate® are trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc. and/or one or more of its subsidiaries, and may be registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.

News Source : Businesses Unprepared to Support New Mobile Ways of Working