Over a third (35%) of IT decision makers in the UK have seen staff productivity improvements of up to 20% when using consumer technology in the workplace, according to a new research by Block Solutions.
The study of 110 IT decision makers at IP Expo shows that the consumerisation of IT is already having a significant and positive effect on employee productivity in the UK today.
The survey found that two thirds of staff believes that within five years such devices will also comply fully with company security requirements, resolving organisational concerns with securing and managing consumer devices.
Block Solutions MD Jon Pickering said consumer technology can provide a more intuitive experience at work, but many IT decision makers have been concerned about the management burden and securing these devices.
"However, with more than one in ten IT staff (13%) seeing productivity improvements of up to 40%, the case for consumer technology in the workplace is becoming too strong to ignore," Pickering said.
According to the research, 70% of organisations would promote the use of consumer IT if it would both benefit the user and maintain business integrity.
However, although security fears and management costs have reportedly been holding adoption back, 72% of the respondents admitted that the cost of purchasing and managing an enterprise device is higher than the cost of managing a ‘free’ consumer device in the workplace.
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This implies that consumer IT may present a more natural and cost effective way of working if security and management fears can be removed.
Pickering said, "Surprisingly, only 7% predicted that the consumerisation of IT will lower support costs because users are familiar with the equipment, showing a clear need for IT support to help to make using new technology second nature."
Unsurprisingly, the most popular device which IT staff had seen in the office was the iPhone (38%), followed by the BlackBerry (31%) and the iPad (28%).
Android smartphones and other smartphones were seen by between 10 and 20% of respondents, with tablets and laptops a rare sighting.
