Businesses Allow More Personal Tech, But Overlook Security

BOSTON, July 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) is having an increasing impact on the IT service landscape, but new findings in OnForce's Q3 Confidence Index, a poll that reflects the opinion of more than 500 technology service professionals nationwide, raises red flags regarding the trend. According to the study, more than half of technicians that do BYOD work reported a 25 percent or more increase in the number of requests for personal mobile device configuration and/or setup at businesses in the past six months. What's alarming: A mere 31 percent of those surveyed have seen an increase in requests for mobile device security during the same timeframe.

"As businesses implement BYOD, there are significant mobile security issues to keep in mind," said Gene Morris, General Manager at BrightStar Enterprise Solutions Inc, a company at the forefront of the issue that's tapping OnForce's platform.  "I help businesses connect and configure personal mobile devices, and at the same time consult with them about the security risks. As BYOD continues to infiltrate the business environment, we do anticipate a significant uptick in mobile security implementations in the next 8-12 months."

Mounting Pressure for Instant Expertise

IT service businesses and technicians are under tremendous pressure to constantly expand expertise and broaden skills as new devices and application emerge.  And the explosion of devices isn't slowing down any time soon. In fact, two out of three technicians surveyed said they've seen increased diversity in the devices at the businesses they serve in the past six months. On average, IT service technicians connect approximately 14 personal devices for businesses per service event and the majority (58 percent) reported an increase in the number of devices they typically connect in the past 12 months.

"Carrying a full-time staff of technicians to address on-site IT service requests for every type of technology is costly and ineffective because demand fluctuates and technology changes," said Peter Cannone, CEO of OnForce. "Businesses need to take a more dynamic approach to IT service that lets them respond quickly to requests without having to carry a staff of hundreds of technicians with the skills to cover every type of technology out there."

Slowly Rising Confidence, Falling Outlook

Although still pessimistic, current confidence among IT service technicians has slowly but significantly risen to an all time high in the past nine months from 37 to 45. This increasing optimism about the current economic climate is a positive sign; however, IT service professionals are growing less optimistic about the future.  In fact, the future confidence has dropped to 56, the lowest we've seen in 2012.  Interestingly, the percentage of technicians who are uncertain about the future remains high for the fourth quarter in a row, coming in at 25 percent; and those who say the economic climate has had no impact on their business has remained consistent.

"Uncertainty surrounding the future has been consistent, but it's interesting and encouraging to see increasing optimism in the past nine months across the technician community," added Cannone. "I'm excited to see what kind of an impact the upcoming presidential election will have on the current and future outlook for IT service technicians." 

About the OnForce Confidence Index IT Professionals

The OnForce Confidence Index reflects the opinions of IT field service decision makers with up to 100 employees, and at least $10,000 in IT services billings. The overall ranking is based on a 0-to-100 scale; a ranking above 50 indicates market optimism and below 50 indicates market pessimism.

The Q3 2012 forecast survey was conducted from July 23 – 24, 2012.

To learn more about OnForce, please visit http://www.onforce.com.

About OnForce
OnForce is the #1 source for on-site tech talent in field services in the cloud. By partnering with OnForce, service buyers can connect with thousands of highly skilled service professionals to fulfill on-site work throughout the US and Canada. With nearly two million service events completed, OnForce is a proven and trusted solution. Service buyers can gain extensive geographic coverage, lower service costs, extend skill-sets, and generate new streams of revenue on demand. The company supports more than 20 IT and CE categories, such as computers, printers, networking, VoIP, Point of Sale, and more. OnForce is the partner in service. For additional information, please visit www.onforce.com.

SOURCE OnForce