The bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend, which has swept through the business world globally, is impacting on IT service management (ITSM).
So says Edward Carbutt, executive director at Marval Africa, who notes ITSM initiatives need to adapt in order to accommodate BYOD, as this is one trend that is only set to gain traction in future.
In its latest forecast, market analyst firm, IDC, says by 2017, 328 million workers will take their own smartphones to work.
Fellow research firm, Gartner, says as enterprise BYOD programmes continue to become more commonplace, 38% of companies expect to stop providing devices to workers by 2016. It believes BYOD drives innovation for CIOs and the business by increasing the number of mobile application users in the workforce.
Carbutt points out the BYOD trend is being driven by the revolution of tablets, smartphones and mobile computing devices.
However, he notes, while end-users have embraced this trend, for IT managers, it has caused several challenges, chief among them being security issues around allowing multiple personal devices onto the corporate network.
"In order to ensure ITSM and BYOD are compatible, it important to have processes in place that are aligned with security policies, such as network access and ISO 27000," he says.
"The availability of IT services to users, and the control of this across multiple devices, also needs to be addressed. Permitting access to the network is key in a successful BYOD strategy, but control and security remain a concern."
Share