Over a third of SMBs have policies, procedures as well as IT systems in place to manage the use of personal communications devices for business purposes, according to a survey.
The study found that 34 per cent of UK SMBs had BYOD policies in place compared with an average of 28 per cent in Europe and the rest of the world, and only 19 per cent in the US.
The survey of more than 1250 SMBs in Europe, North America and Australia, undertaken by YouGov on behalf of Citrix. This follows a similar study conducted in 2011 exploring the implications of increasing consumerisation of technology in the workplace.
It is good to see the UK taking the lead in putting security policies in place.
As many as 47 per cent of respondents surveyed in the UK said their employees are already using their personal devices for work. This is further emphasised by 55 per cent of senior directors and managers saying they rely on smart phones compared to 54 per cent who selected PCs and 52 per cent for laptops.
A quarter (25 per cent) of respondents said their firms are under more pressure to introduce or increase mobile, flexible working practices than they were 5 years ago. This figure is higher than two years ago (21 per cent), but still lower than the global average (34 per cent).
Worldwide, employees are most commonly cited as a source of pressure for change (29 per cent), ahead of external drivers such as competitors (27 per cent), regulation (14 per cent) or the environment (8 per cent)
Management (30 per cent) and sales (25 per cent) are most likely to want to use their own personal communications devices for business purposes, according to those whose staff want to be able to do this, although 40 per cent of respondents confirm all parts of the organisation want to use personal devices.
"In encouraging mobile flexible working, it is good to see the UK taking the lead in putting security policies in place," said Robert Gratzl, EMEA managing director of online services at Citrix. "They are rightly anxious about their firms' potential exposure, with particular concerns around remote network access and document downloads, for example."
"However, like other countries, they still have some way to go, with almost two-thirds possibly lacking the tools and processes to automatically delete business information from employees' personal devices if, for example, they are lost or stolen," he said.
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