Cisco: Nearly half of IT managers still against BYOD trend

Tablet computing in the enterprise world is about to hit a major turning point in 2012, but there are definitely some serious roadblocks ahead, according to a new report from Cisco.

The global survey found that IT departments are now getting one tablet request for every three smartphone requests. That could possibly be attributed the statistic that 48 percent of companies surveyed said that they would never authorize employees to bring their own devices to work.

That's not good for proponents of the BYOD trend if nearly half of IT decision makers are still against the idea.

Of course, security is a serious and important concern here. But after citing lost and stolen devices as the number one deterrent to this trend, 44 percent of opponents said handling BYOD issues diverts IT attention from other important projects.

Despite all this, 57 percent of IT managers acknowledged some employees use personal devices at work without consent.

For reference, the study results are based upon the responses from 1,500 IT managers and executives in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Spain about their attitudes, fears and hopes for mobile devices within the enterprise.

Yet for the companies where employees are being given tablets by their IT departments, approvals differ based on country and status within the country.

For example, 31 percent of salespeople in Germany have tablets, while British counterparts are the least likely to get them at 14 percent.

Likewise, senior executives are most likely to be issued a tablet in the United States at 38 percent, but again, executives in the U.K are the least likely at 27 percent.

Looking forward, IT managers in Spain appear to be the most excited about the integration of tablets in the workplace with 90 percent of respondents replying that they believe the tablet will become more popular in the next two years.

[Image via Cisco]

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