UK, France and Germany sceptical about BYOD and the ultimate impact of GDPR
Security and value for money remain the major challenges around bring your own device (BYOD) implementations, according to a new survey. The implementation of EU general data protection regulation (GDPR) in May 2018 will create greater headaches for BYOD environments, stated Strategy Analytics.
Over the years, BYOD has moved beyond being just an employee mobility model, from giving employees the flexibility to work from anywhere, with their own choice of device, to a cost cutting tool replacing company-owned devices with employees own personal devices. BYOD implementation has also been much more economical than traditional enterprise purchasing, while providing the network infrastructure and support required by users, noted Strategy Analytics.
Security concerns are the key reason why about 10% of companies in US, UK, France and Germany expect personal-liable tablets to decrease over next year. Yet the trend of adding mobile security tools is rising; the US is the largest market for personal liable devices, the survey showed. Antivirus and malware, secure VPN, data encryption, and device locking, are the top most important features being implemented.
Enterprise mobility management (EMM) is the top tool businesses use to manage business data on personal-liable devices, however nearly one third of those questioned do not manage corporate information on personal-liable devices at all.
Mobile security management, device procurement, and device provisioning are the top mobility management strategies implemented by organisations.
Small and medium sized business adoption of BYOD is strong in the US, compared to the UK, France and Germany. Corporate-liable devices dominate in EU countries in both small and medium sized business and corporate environments.
“Mobile security is the greatest concern among surveyed business respondents. However, there are many companies who still do not manage corporate information on personal-liable devices. When GDPR comes into force in 2018, it is going to have a significant impact on BYOD growth. Companies cannot reasonably believe that they are providing adequate security for personal data unless it can demonstrate that it has implemented appropriate EMM, containers, controls and procedures, to ensure separation of business data from personal data on the device,” said Gina Luk, principal analyst of mobile workforce strategies at Strategy Analytics.
Added Andrew Brown, executive director of enterprise research at Strategy Analytics: “EMM is recommended under California cybersecurity law. Hence, we envision a negative impact on BYOD, as companies will be less willing to face repercussions or overlooking any aspects of the new directive. We suspect it will also encourage larger firms to employ additional lawyers, to ensure company processes guarantee compliance with the new directive. In fact, cost savings from BYOD are not comparable to the financial damage and reputational risk that can be incurred as a result of lost or stolen data and the security implications that a data breach entails.”
Strategy Analytics interviewed 1,200 IT decision makers across nine vertical markets in the US UK, France, and Germany in the first quarter of 2017.
