Check Point Software Report Says iPads, iPhones Most Popular for BYOD

A recent report compiled by Check Point Software and Dimensional Research shows that iOS is the most popular mobile operating system in the enterprise. This report comes along with several others: one talking about the increase of IT spending on iPads and Macs, another about how small and midsize businesses (SMBs) will buy tablets--largely iPads--this year. Everywhere you look, Apple is in the enterprise, primarily in the form of its tablet, though the iPhone has surely played a part as well. Will there ever be a time when the headlines read otherwise? Or has the iPad become the "apple" of the enterprise's eye? What does this mean for SMBs?

Spreading the Roots of "Think Different"

Apple's slogan is getting to more than just consumers; in fact, roughly 86 percent of the survey respondents who have smartphones and tablets interacting with business networks say that iOS is the most popular OS. However, this seems to be a reflection of the devices employees choose to bring to work, not what businesses are deploying by choice. The survey included 786 IT pros in Japan, the United States, and Germany, according to ZDNet. The report notes that IT pros see Android as the biggest threat to their companies. However, if iOS is the most widely used, it's interesting that the same survey found that 71 percent of respondents claim mobile devices have caused more security breaches. Does this mean that iOS is not as secure as people thought or just that the few Android devices accessing business networks have created that widespread of a problem?

The Check Point Software and Dimensional Research report also notes that 78 percent of companies have double the personal devices in the workplace than they did two years ago. Also, 72 percent of US respondents are open to the "bring your own device" (BYOD) concept. This places them squarely between Japan (least open) and Germany (most open).

Do Employees Shape Businesses?

Several reports show that businesses are warming up to the iPad (one Forrester Report showed that businesses are spending more on Macs and iPads in a previous Infoboom article). So, not only are employees bringing Apple products to work, but businesses are choosing to deploy these products too. It turns into a bit of a "chicken or the egg" question: Which influenced the other? It's more probable that, when it came to bringing their own devices, employees chose Apple products of their own accord. The possibility that businesses issuing iPhones and iPads caused employees to choose these on their own is slim. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that businesses were solely influenced by employee decisions--though if employees continuously bring these products to work whether you say it's OK or not, they might eventually force your hand to allow the integration.

Most importantly, as the power and popularity of these devices grow, more SMBs might be faced with this same problem, if you aren't facing it already. If you haven't chosen to deploy Apple, what are you doing about employees working with Apple products anyway? What will you do if it happens, as an IT pro? You can support it, or not. Consider why other businesses have chosen to not only allow it, but "endorse" it, as it were. You have a lot of things to worry about on a daily basis, and this is just one growing issue--but it might not be a problem, depending on how you look at it. This is where you have to decide, because chances are it's not going to dissipate. To Apple, or not to Apple?