A new Cisco study has highlighted the rush to adopt BYOD, whilst the company seeks to exploit this trend with new packages targeted at IT consumerisation and the mobile virtual desktop.

The IBSG Horizons Study surveyed 600 IT and business leaders and found 95% of respondents said their organisations permitted employee-owned devices in the workplace. Indeed 84% of respondents not only allow employee-owned devices, but also provide some level of support. In addition, 36% of the surveyed enterprises provide full support for employee-owned devices. In other words, they will provide support for any device (smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.) the employee brings to the workplace.

This study also concluded that the average number of connected devices per knowledge worker is expected to reach 3.3 by 2014, up from an average of 2.8 in 2012. IT managers are balancing security and support concerns with the very real potential to reap significant cost and productivity benefits from the BYOD trend.

Over three-quarters (76%) of respondents said BYOD was “somewhat or extremely positive for their companies”. The top BYOD priorities for employees were device choice and the desire to perform personal activities at work, and work activities during personal time.

The IBSG study estimates that the annual company cash benefits from BYOD range from £190 to £800 per employee, depending on the employee’s job role.

Neil Sutton, Vice President Global Portfolio, at BT Global Services commented: “Cisco’s findings tally well with the latest BT research, which found that 82% of companies across 11 countries allow their employees to bring their own devices to work (BYOD), or will do so within the next two years.”

Coinciding with the publication of the study, Cisco announced three Smart Solution packages that are intended to help CIOs and IT leaders increase business efficiency and remove the cost and complexity associated with mobility. The solutions are built on a common technology framework and help increase employee satisfaction and productivity by enabling personnel to “work their way”, ensuring the business is highly secure and intellectual property is protected.

The three Smart Solutions are: 

BYOD Smart Solution: provides end-to-end BYOD lifecycle management. The solution helps secure data with unified policy, includes powerful collaboration tools, and simplifies operations with proactive management.

VXI Smart Solution: a desktop virtualisation system that spans Cisco’s Data Center, Borderless Networks and Collaboration architectures to deliver collaboration and rich media user experiences in a fully integrated, open and validated desktop virtualisation solution.

Remote Expert Smart Solution: an integrated solution that will enable a virtual face-to-face consultation through video and online form sharing at work or in the home by identifying and accessing the most appropriate subject matter expert from any location.

These packages represent a significant shift in the company’s thinking about how to deploy mobile technology for businesses, and will be available during this coming month.