IT managers struggling to combat consumer technology

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The ubiquity of consumer goods in the workplace is creating real policy and support problems for IT departments.

IT managers' headaches are getting worse as they struggle to meet the demands of an increasingly consumer-driven tech estate.

So claims research by Quest Software, which surveyed some 200 UK-based enterprise IT managers to discover that the likes of MP3 players and instant messenger (IM) applications are causing added stress for the IT department.

Some 70 per cent of those surveyed cited the increasing proliferation of consumer-oriented tech in the workplace as a key factor in the creation of complex business challenges.

But, despite this angst, around half of IT managers either continue to let employees store company data on personal storage devices like USB sticks or smartphones or simply don't have formal policies in place.

"Think about how daily working life is changing. Public and corporate IM applications are on nearly every desktop; VoIP is evolving from consumer offerings such as Skype into enterprise-grade variants; audio/video conferencing technologies continue to mature; and increasing numbers of employees are using their personal mobile devices, MP3 players and USB keys to store company data," said Joe Baguley, Quest Software's European chief technology officer.

"Given these trends, it's hardly surprising that enterprise IT teams are feeling pressure to manage the security threats posed by these so-called consumer' technologies entering the workplace."

Maggie Holland
Maggie Holland

Maggie has been a journalist since 1999, starting her career as an editorial assistant on then-weekly magazine Computing, before working her way up to senior reporter level. In 2006, just weeks before ITPro was launched, Maggie joined Dennis Publishing as a reporter. Having worked her way up to editor of ITPro, she was appointed group editor of CloudPro and ITPro in April 2012. She became the editorial director and took responsibility for ChannelPro, in 2016.

Her areas of particular interest, aside from cloud, include management and C-level issues, the business value of technology, green and environmental issues and careers to name but a few.