IT directors voice BYOD concerns

Around 75 per cent of IT directors fear the "bring your own device" (BYOD) trend could cause workplace IT costs to spiral out of control, research shows.

The survey, commissioned by ICT provider Damovo UK, featured responses from 100 IT directors, working within various business sectors across the UK.

A common concern raised by respondents was that IT departments may lose their purchasing power, as employees opt to use their personal devices instead.

Despite this, 69 per cent said they expect their departments will still be required to offer the same level of IT support to employees that adopt BYOD, and to be the first to know when things go wrong.

The survey also revealed that more than a third of companies do not have a published BYOD strategy in place. Moreover, three quarters do not provide employees with a corporate application store to give them access to approved downloadable software.

Glyn Owen, portfolio manager at Damovo, said employees may not appreciate the risk BYOD poses to their companies, as games and mobile malware could cause problems for corporate networks.

"All employees have a responsibility for maintaining compliance with corporate governance policies," said Owen.

"Mobile Application Management systems can be a good line of defence against malicious software; restricting employee downloads to software that has been developed or at least approved by the enterprise," he added.