Do you think your personal devices are more useful at work than those provided by your company? If you said yes, you fit in recent survey, “Consumerization of IT,” sponsored by Unisys Corp. and conducted by International Data Corp. (IDC). The study makes clear the increasing entry and use of mobile technologies in business and how IT departments are responding to this scenario.
The use of personal mobile devices (such as mobile phones, tablets and notebooks) in the workplace has gained more space in the world, especially in Brazil. The IT departments of organizations, however, are still not taking sufficient measures to support this trend.
The study shows that in Brazil 37% of so-called information workers or iWorkers (employees who use information technology as part of their day to day) use smartphone to access business applications in their companies. Although they have only been selling for a short period, tablets also have an important place in the workplace: 22% of Brazilian use their device at work, while the global average usage of the equipment in the corporate environment was 13%. One conclusion is that employees are bringing their equipment to work. And to control what is happening, companies should establish policies and define processes and tools that support this trend.
What do you do at work?
According to the survey, Brazilian iWorkers do more activities during working hours than their companies are aware of: 44% of employees say their employers allow them to access social media sites for personal reasons in the office, while only 24% of IT executives have recognized that this practice occurs in their organizations.
Access to social media sites at work also increased. In last year’s study, 16% of Brazilian respondents said iWorkers use Facebook for work-related issues. In 2011, this number jumped to 34% of respondents. Compared with the eight other countries included in the survey, 59% of Brazilians said iWorkers access social media sites at least once a day at work, compared to 48% of Americans and 37% of Europeans in similar jobs.
