The 2012 Australian “Consumerisation of IT” research into enterprise mobility, commissioned by Unisys and conducted by Forrester Consulting, reveals that while many large organisations see smartphones, tablets and employee-owned devices in the workplace as inevitable, the majority are lagging in providing employees with more than basic (email/calendar) mobile applications to take advantage of this new mobility. This shortfall in support for employee mobility is driving employees to download unauthorised apps (BYO apps) even though doing so may be grounds for dismissal.

 In responding to the 2012 survey, 42 percent of Australian employees said that they had downloaded unauthorised mobile apps or PC software.  The most common reason given for doing so – cited by 63 percent of respondents – was that they needed it for work purposes and their employer didn’t provide an alternative.

 Aside from personal email apps and websites, the most common apps downloaded by Australian employees are video conferencing tools such as Skype or FaceTime (33 percent of respondents), file sharing such as Box or Dropbox (29 percent), and chat tools such as Microsoft Messenger or Google Talk (25 percent).

 Importantly, employees say that they are using these apps to conduct work with customers, partners and/or suppliers, not just for personal reasons or to communicate with each other.

 When asked which unsupported apps they use to interact with customers, partners or suppliers, almost a third (28 percent) of Australian employees say they use file sharing apps instead of sending email attachments, 26 percent use video conferencing and 7 percent use chat apps.

 “The findings show that as part of their increased mobility, employees are increasingly seeking tools for better collaboration and customer service – whether or not those tools are sanctioned by their employers, ” said Mr Rob Dewar, Vice President, Technology, Consulting and Integration Services, Unisys Australia and New Zealand. 

 “However, their behaviour is risky because an easily available app could contain malicious code and be used as a vehicle to steal data, spy or access a network.  This behaviour can also lead to operational inefficiency and complicate end-user support if numerous employees are using too many different applications,” Mr Dewar said.

 The survey reveals that to date, the primary strategy taken by employers to manage BYO apps has been to ban them, often with harsh penalties.  More than a quarter (27 percent) of Australian organisations surveyed said that they had an IT policy prohibiting the downloading of third party applications.  Moreover, 67 percent say that downloading unauthorised software was prohibited or even potential grounds for dismissal.

 Mr Dewar said that many employees using their own devices at work expect to be able to download their own applications.  However implementing a corporate-managed enterprise app store containing mobile apps that have been reviewed and approved for use on the corporate network can remove the need for employees to find and download their own apps. 

 “The key for security-sensitive organisations is to deliver a compelling app suite to their employees via controlled methods, such as a dedicated app store, so that users don’t need to come up with workaround methods to access applications they feel necessary to do their jobs productively. Those organisations would do well to consult with their most innovative, productive mobile workers to determine what type of apps they require and then select or build them based on functionality and security.  Of course, that approach needs to be combined with clear policies on application use and an education program around the security implications of third party apps,” Mr Dewar said.

While email and calendar apps are currently the most common mobile applications provided to employees, many Australian organisations say they plan to provide a range of other applications over the next 12 months – including those which employees have been downloading themselves, such as web conferencing (29 percent of organisations), file synch or access (24 percent), and productivity tools (24 percent). Other planned apps include access to team sites (24 percent) and internal business apps such as financials, ERP and HR (24 percent).

For complete details, including country reports and global findings, visit Unisys’ Consumerisation of IT site HERE