Firms are paying £61 a month for every device workers bring into the office.
Research by iPass has discovered that only 48 per cent of employers are in control of the spending on the equipment being used to encourage mobile working. Despite the fact organisations are not paying for the devices intially, they are still picking up the monthly usage bill, Register reports.
In the past 12 months, 56 per cent of respondents relaxed their bring your own device (BYOD) policies, while over 80 per cent now allow their employees to pay for their own hardware, even though it is going to be used in the office space.
This trend is one that is increasingly being embraced by firms in the UK, as they recognise that it can boost employee productivity and wellbeing. Indeed, a recent report from Good Technology discovered that 76 per cent of organisations are now formally supporting BYOD.
“Over the last year BYOD has undoubtedly gained traction in the enterprise. The number of companies that had previously stated they had no plans to support BYOD has markedly declined,” Good Technology stated.
The biggest concern facing companies with BYOD is security, as they are worried about important information getting out because of the number of people who can access sensitive documents remotely.
“Provisioning and supporting devices is expensive and most of those polled reckon the costs are only going to rise. The majority of security incidents were down to handsets that were lost or stolen complete with passwords and logon details,” the news provider stated.
Mobile firms are looking to assuage fears by introducing new software that will tighten up security controls, with BlackBerry and Sophos among the firms to have rolled out new measures.
Moving forward, IT departments will increasingly have to include mobile devices in their budgets, as they are viewed as an essential tool for effective working.
