Companies focus on mobile device rollout while overlooking security, IFS study reveals

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to a global study by IDC, sponsored by IFS, the global enterprise applications company, 65 per cent of businesses will focus their investments in mobility on rolling out smartphones and tablets. However, only seven per cent state that they will invest in mobile device management (MDM) in the coming three years.

“Considering the rapidly increasing amount of business data that is accessed through mobile devices, it is noteworthy that only seven per cent state that MDM will be the focus of their strategic investments. Clearly, security awareness among companies needs to be improved as we are becoming increasingly mobile.”

The survey shows that rollout of mobile devices to employees dominates company investment plans. While 65 per cent of the respondents chose smartphones and tablets, only seven per cent will improve security and policy management by investing in MDM.

The IDC survey identifies MDM as a key component of mobility solutions for handling security, policy and integration to back-office systems.

“Without a robust MDM solution it will be nearly impossible to secure a mobile device and enable a full or partial wipe in case of theft or loss of the device,” IDC Program Director Jason Andersson said. “Considering the rapidly increasing amount of business data that is accessed through mobile devices, it is noteworthy that only seven per cent state that MDM will be the focus of their strategic investments. Clearly, security awareness among companies needs to be improved as we are becoming increasingly mobile.”

“MDM may well support remote management of an installed base of devices such as locking users into a kiosk mode or wiping data from a stolen or lost device,” said Martin Gunnarsson, director, IFS Research & Strategy. “However, security also entails cloud solutions where strong built-in security ensures that all communication is encrypted and no corporate data or user passwords are stored in the cloud. In certain industries, it is even prohibited to send classified information from the back-end business software to a mobile device.”

About the study

The survey was performed in nine countries (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Poland, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia, United States, and France) with a total of 455 phone interviews and web survey responses in a number of industry verticals. The survey targeted CIO or IT Managers who were decision-makers regarding mobile solutions, budgets and strategies. The respondents indicated what current mobile capabilities they provide to their workforce, but also specific drivers for investing in mobility solutions. Over half of the responding companies (52%) belong to one of five industry verticals: Industrial manufacturing, Process manufacturing, Retail, Construction & Contracting and Service Provider.