Most employees are interested in participating in BYOD, but many are put off by their employer's device and application management policies which are seen as too restrictive or invasive to privacy.
This is among the findings of a survey by data protection specialist Bitglass which also reveals that 67 percent of employees would participate in BYOD programs if their employers had the ability to protect corporate data but couldn’t view, alter or delete their personal information and applications.
The results show end users are challenging, and even rejecting, traditional mobile device management (MDM) and mobile application management (MAM) solutions, fearing their employer’s ability to access, alter or delete personal data stored on their mobile devices. Underscoring this, 57 percent of employees, and 38 percent of IT professionals are choosing not to participate in their company's BYOD program because they don't want their employer's IT department to have visibility into their personal data and applications.
"BYOD holds great promise for employee productivity and cost savings, but architectural challenges introduced by the first wave of solutions have inhibited adoption," says Nat Kausik, CEO, Bitglass. "Going forward, BYOD programs must comprehensively address privacy concerns while allowing users to maintain control over their personal data. Agentless, data-centric mobile security solutions solve these challenges and represent the next-generation of mobile security".
Despite lower-than-expected adoption, there remains a high interest in BYOD participation if the right conditions are met. Of IT professionals surveyed, 64 percent believe that their BYOD programs would be more successful without MDM hassles, such as installed agents and employee privacy challenges.
Other interesting findings are that 28 percent of organizations are doing nothing to protect corporate data on mobile devices. Also, 44 percent of millennials said they would participate in BYOD programs in which employers have the ability to wipe their personal mobile device to protect proprietary information. Perhaps most worrying is that 40 percent of security administrators have chosen not to participate in the same mobile policies that they're enforcing for their organization.
You can read more in the full report which is available on the Bitglass website.
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