BYOD: TechWeekEurope Readers Value Security Over Happiness

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is one of the biggest challenges that IT departments are likely to face in the near future, but opinions are divided on its merits.

In our latest poll, TechWeekEurope asked our readers what their strongest opinion on BYOD from a selection of five was. More readers considered it to be a negative than a positive, despite just over a quarter of respondents recognising that it was likely to make staff happier.

Happiness is not the answer

Around half of readers thought that BYOD was a massive security risk, registering 49 percent of the total vote and evidently siding with TechWeek’s Eric Doyle who takes the view that it stands for ‘Bring Your own Devastation’.

A further 14 percent were also unconvinced by the benefits, declaring it an administrative headache that just wasn’t worth the pain.

However a significant proportion of respondents, 28 percent to be exact, believed that it would make staff happier if they were allowed to bring their own devices. This group clearly agree with TechWeek’s Tom Brewster, that the security issue is overstated and the benefits are worthwhile.

“Happiness” was perceived to be the greatest benefit of BYOD, with the other supposed advantages failing to convince our readers. Only five percent said that BYOD was a good way to reduce IT costs and just three percent believed it was likely to increase productivity.

This would certainly be the view of Blackpool Council, which declared that BYOD was more expensive than using in-house equipment.

Next: the IT skills crisis

For our next poll, we want to hear what you think is the answer to the IT Skills shortage? What can be done to address the problem? You can voice your views on the right hand side of the screen.