IT directors see the importance of developing an end-user computing strategy, yet are being inhibited by a number of challenges including: risk and compliance issues, skills shortage, lack of resources, and multiple business and user priorities. That is according to an Ovum UK survey.
A survey of 100 UK IT decision makers was commissioned by Dimension Data, a provider of ICT services, and undertaken by analyst house, Ovum. Results included:
• An increasing number of employees are ‘doing IT’ for themselves, using ‘freemium’ products when employers do not provide the tools they need. For instance, 65 per cent of employees in medium to large enterprises that are using file sync and share products for work are using freemium consumer products
• 70 per cent of UK organisations do not have a formal BYOD strategy, leaving the majority of employees to update and fully support their devices themselves
• However, IT departments are trying to accommodate end-user technologies to some extent, with 48 per cent doing so at the discretion of the IT department
These findings show that while businesses are open to giving employees more freedom over the devices they use, many organisations are doing this on an ad-hoc basis without adopting a clear strategy – 37 per cent admitted they are struggling to design a coherent approach.
According to Jim Barrett, End-User Computing Manager at Dimension Data in the UK, “Organisations can create an end-user computing strategy to help them prioritise employee device requirements and build a roadmap to support them. This strategy should go beyond supporting a desktop only computing environment, to taking a device-agnostic, user-centric focus, thus removing the need for employees to “do IT” for themselves and enable access to applications and data from any location.”
The importance of such a focus is acknowledged by the UK IT leaders that Ovum polled: 71 per cent of respondents agreed that a flexible workforce that’s able to access data and applications anytime, anywhere, is important from a revenue and profitability perspective. Likewise 78 per cent of those surveyed believed good customer service starts first and foremost with a responsive and flexible workforce.
The survey suggests that in spite of the enthusiasm for migrating towards a user-centric computing environment, a number of challenges are preventing them from implementation. Some 67 per cent said that business risk and compliance is the primary barrier to adopting progressive policies, and 45 per cent said they lack the requisite skills and resources to implement them. To further complicate the issue, IT departments say they’re juggling a growing number of differing priorities, needs and views from across the business when putting an end-user computing strategy in place. While the CIO’s priorities must be borne out in practice, 46 per cent of survey respondents also confirmed that employees have a strong voice when it comes to making decisions affecting end-user computing.
For IT directors to achieve success when evaluating their end-user computing requirements, Dimension Data recommends they take the following best practice approach:
• Build a strategy based on worker roles and business service architecture
• Strike a balance between user, business, and IT needs
• Think strategically then act tactically, but don’t carry out one without the other – this will help prioritise projects and ensure technology is deployed based on a clear strategy; and
• Remember to review the impact your strategy may have on software licensing, compliance and asset management practices
Barrett added: ‘While 58 per cent of UK enterprises surveyed are already reassessing specific business processes and activities to take advantage of developments in mobile devices, a surprising 23 per cent are either adopting a wait and see approach, or have no foreseeable plans in this regard.”
“Future competitive advantage will be created through data and analytics: business models will be shaped by cloud; and engagement will be powered by mobile and social technologies,” said Richard Edwards, Principal Analyst – Enterprise, Ovum. “Continued growth in the use of employee owned devices and self-selected applications is changing the face of the end-user computing environment, yet many organisations continue with out-moded, desktop-only computing strategies that were conceived over a year ago. Workforce engagement must be a top priority if organisations are to flourish, and those organisations adopting a more progressive end-user computing environment are more likely to succeed.”
To help businesses overcome end-user computing challenges, Dimension Data has established a dedicated End-user Computing Business Unit in 2013. The company launched its cloud-based Enterprise Mobility-as-a-Service
