IT lets personal devices get too personal

Resistance to personal devices being used in corporate environments is crumbling, despite 84 per cent of IT leaders admitting that tablets and smartphones owned by employees pose a serious threat to their security.

Research by Dimension Data shows that 40 per cent of businesses are allowing work-related material to be accessed and edited on personal devices without encryption, while a third have no anti-virus protection. The number of businesses allowing popular technologies such as iPads and Android phones to operate within their corporate estates has now passed the 50 per cent mark according to the survey.

Apple continued its aggressive assault on the enterprise this week with a more direct approach. At its annual developers conference, a series of software enhancements were announced, many designed to appease businesses weary of the Apple platform.

The biggest change is that iPads and iPhones no longer need a host PC, so they can be treated as a standalone asset to simplify support. Apple’s free document and personal data syncing service, iCloud, promises to de-clutter management of multiple devices, while an auto save function shared across Apple’s mobile platform (iOS), its PC operating system (Lion) and iCloud, will automatically backup all data and content, potentially making document filing systems redundant.

Apple is hoping the gradual softening towards its products in the corporate environment will raise awareness of its developments and open the door for further business entrenchment.