Although 79 per cent of organisations claim to be embracing mobile devices for business as a top priority, only 29 per cent of those executing a mobile strategy have tested how well core applications will function on the devices, according to research by ICT services provider, Dimension Data (DiData).
The ‘DiData Secure Enterprise Mobility’ report – which polled 1622 IT professionals in organisations with more than 250 employees in 22 countries – also indicates 35 per cent of participants responded to have addressed troubleshooting mobility at all. DiData said this indicates that support resources for mobility resemble an afterthought for many organisations.
DiData security solutions general manager, Matthew Gyde, said the figure is startling considering how many mobile devices are being used by employees for work purposes.
“Without taking these steps, IT departments could be at risk of delivering sub-optimal user experiences that will inhibit adoption, and as importantly, they will miss out on the change to proactively identify and solve security challenges before they become threats,” Gyde said.
Adding to this, 61 per cent said employees are unable to access core applications necessary to perform job functions on mobile devices, with 73 per cent stating their organisation does not have well-defined mobility policies.
The security battle continues
“Our survey results tell us that security fears may be hindering productivity benefits,” Gyde said. “Over 77 per cent of participants said that information security and privacy concerns are the greatest challenge they expect to face when they build and implement a mobility strategy.”
Regardless, Gyde is adamant it is realistic to realise productivity benefits without compromising security, and argues it requires making time to determine precise mobility requirements and control deployments, manage risks, and support users prior to the implementation face.
Gyde also said “organisations must take into account numerous facets of the business. This includes security policy risk, assessment, cost of operational support, and the effects on application service deliver and employee productivity.”
As it stands, DiData highlights IT leaders are struggling; 31 per cent have conducted security audits of applications touched by mobile devices despite 82 per cent admitting to employees using personal devices and applications for work.
Additionally, 90 per cent of participants said they do not have the necessary capability to stop employees using their personal mobile devices to access enterprise systems on their own, even if they wanted to.
“Unknowns significantly increase the opportunity for intrusion, so when organisations are aware of the mobile devices on their networks, as well as the applications that can be accessed via these devices, they will be able to not only identify rogue devices, but also track new applications coming into their enterprise,” Gyde said.