Bring your own device (BYOD) policies are being overlooked in favour of allowing employees to choose their own corporate-controlled mobile device.
According to a snapshot survey of IT decision makers at 224 UK firms, conducted by Shape the Future on behalf of Azzurri Communications, deployments of BYOD have grown at half the rate, six percent, compared to choose your own device (CYOD), at 12 percent.
CYOD is defined as a policy which enables users to choose a corporately approved tablet or smartphone for both business and personal use, with the SIM card owned by the company. This has clear benefits for IT departments. A small number of supported devices makes managing devices easier.
The report showed that CYOD policies are now in operation at almost a third, 31 percent, of UK organisations, beating BYOD policies, which have been deployed by 17 percent of respondents.
The findings indicate that it is unlikely adoption of BYOD will become the policy of choice in the near future, with 60 percent claiming that CYOD is the best option for them, compared with 13 percent which believe BYOD is more suitable.
According to Rufus Grig, CTO, Azzurri Communications, despite the hype around BYOD , many organisations are unwilling to allow private devices onto corporate networks.
“Despite all the puff and promise of BYOD, the evidence shows that adoption is far lower than the hype would lead us to believe,” Grig said.
“BYOD promises the world, but in reality most organisations are left paralysed and confused by what BYOD can really offer, so in the end they stick to what they know and avoid large-scale, companywide BYOD deployments.”
The finding highlight the need for devices and management tools aimed squarely at corporate use, despit the troubles at BlackBerry, which not long ago was undisputed king of the market. Analysts at Gartner last week suggested that customers should consider moving platforms, ditching the ailing Canadian phone maker.