Consumer IT Increasingly Used in the Australian Workplace; Creates Security, Liability and Support Risks – Unisys-Sponsored Research FindsDisconnect between how and what technology employers think is being used vs. what employees are actually using revealed
SYDNEY, 2 July 2010 – New research sponsored by Unisys and conducted by International Data Corp. (IDC) shows that consumer technology, such as smartphones, netbooks and social networking sites, is being used increasingly in the Australian workplace. This “consumerisation of IT” is impacting how employees perform their jobs; how they collaborate; how technology is selected and purchased; and how organisations communicate with their employees, customers, suppliers and partners. The research also reveals surprising gaps in readiness by IT organisations to manage, support, secure and ultimately capitalise on the rapidly growing use of consumer technologies in the workplace.
The “Consumerisation of IT” research shows that the vast majority of Australian employees (97%) use at least one self-purchased technology device in the course of their work. It found that iPhones and PDAs are more often purchased personally by the employee, whereas Blackberry smartphones are more often paid for by the employer.
Only 30% of Australian employers say that they allow access to corporate applications via a smartphone, lower than the corresponding global result (48%).
Disconnect between employees and employers
The study also found there is a disconnect between employees and employers regarding what personal activities are actually allowed at work:
“The risk is that if organisations are not aware of how their IT infrastructure is being used, they may not have adequate security measures -- both technology and policies -- in place, putting their corporate data and their employees’ privacy at risk,” explained Lee Ward, Asia Pacific vice president and general manager, IT Outsourcing and Infrastructure Support Services, Unisys.
Social Networking used for Business Activity
Yet, 34% of Australian employers reported that they do not have social media guidelines for social media use in the workplace, lower than the global proportion of 40%.
The survey found that overall social networking in business is most commonly used for employee communications, customer communications, recruitment and advertising/public relations. While both employers and employees rated Australian organisations as providing medium levels of IT support of social networking channels such as company blogs, company Twitter accounts and social networks, overall employees did not rank the level of IT organisation support provided for social networking as high as employers did – particularly for Twitter. Nick Abrahams, partner and head of Sydney office for international law firm, Norton Rose said: "More organisations are seeking legal advice to develop social networking policies for proprietary or private social networking systems that they use to communicate with customers or vendors. But equally they need to manage the use of consumer grade social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook as they have impact and reach internally and externally. Internally they must be considered within the context of employee relations - so that social networking is not used as a tool for bullying or harassment or to invade an employee's privacy. Externally, what is said on company Twitter, blog and Facebook sites, and by whom, must also be carefully managed to not only to protect company information and the desired positioning of a company's brand, but also because litigators now recognise the value of information on social networking sites."
Choosing and Buying Consumer IT for Work
“New IT purchasing models bring greater freedom of choice to employees to choose the IT device they want for work. However, employee-owned IT models also bring a number of new issues for the employer to manage in terms of the ability to manage or search corporate data on the device, ensure adequate security measures are in place and decide who is responsible for maintenance and insurance. To avoid misunderstanding or ambiguity, employers should state up-front in clear business policies their requirements and expectations, including responsibility for insurance and IT support, for any technology used on the corporate network or to support the employer’s business activity,” Ms Ward advised.
Risks – and the Action Employers Need to Take
Australian organisations report that they are slightly more security conscious than the global average when it comes to changing passwords, automatic anti-virus updates, single sign-on and the publishing of official social media guidelines, but are less security conscious about accessing enterprise applications via smartphones and performing automatic backups. Overall, only half (49%) of Australian organisations rate their security of infrastructure across all devices, applications and information systems as very secure, compared to 73% globally.
In addition, as the range of devices and applications used in the workplace expands, employers are faced with the decision as to what extent they will provide IT support. According to the study Australian organisations expect they will need to increase help desk support in the next 12 months for PDAs (increase by 21%), netbooks and tablet PCs (+17%) and PC cameras (+13%). As employees become more mobile with the use of consumer technologies, organisations also need to consider how they can provide more remote support and IT assistance for employees outside of the office.
“To manage these risks employers need to make sure they have strong technical security protection at the most exposed and weakest layers in the environment—the endpoints and the network infrastructure. They also need to address the human behaviour side of the issue. This requires employee education about the risks and enforced policies to prevent them. And it needs to include employee-owned devices, online applications and social networking sites used for work activity. According to the survey, IT policy is typically set by the IT department, CIO or CEO; however, given the nature of the risk, HR and legal departments need to be involved, too,” Ms Ward said.
Perceived benefits of Consumerisation of IT
Peter Wilson, Australian Human Resource Institute national president said: “The growth of consumer technology in the workplace reflects the changing way we want to work – more mobile and more collaboratively. Because of this, it is not just a technology issue. There are a range of HR implications for businesses to address in their HR policies such as the employer’s ability to access information on an employee owned device, clear guidelines for both personal and company use of social media, and ensuring that employees do not feel they have to be contactable 24 hours a day just because new technology allows it.” ### NOTE – unless otherwise stated, all statistics quoted refer to the Australian survey results
About the “Consumerisation of IT” Research
About Unisys Asia Pacific
About Unisys
This is an opinion piece and is intended only to provide a summary of the subject matter covered. It does not purport to be comprehensive or to render advice. No reader should act on the basis of any matter contained in this piece without first obtaining specific professional advice
Contacts: Claire Hosegood, Unisys, +61 411 253 663
Rooney, IMPACT Communications, +61 2 9519 5411 victoria@impactcommunications.com.au
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