Nearly three quarters of smaller Irish businesses (71%) regard IT security as the biggest, current technological challenge, according to new research.
Conducted by IDC and commissioned by Vodafone, the survey of 250 businesses (up to 249 employees) in February and March of this year, found that a third were concerned with providing protecting data while providing access to remote and mobile workers.
The survey results found that just 20% of businesses thought that supporting employee-owned devices was a major technical challenge. The authors of the report however, were somewhat pessimistic on this and regard it as an indication that the potential risks are not being addressed.
The report commentary also expressed concern over the fact that half of mobile workers surveyed said that they had no concerns over data security on smart phones and tablets, interpreting it as indicating a need for greater control of such devices by businesses.
"We have seen a 37.5% increase in smart phone users on our network in the past year," said Leo O’Leary, head of Corporate and Public Sector, Vodafone Ireland, "and our connected tablet base has already doubled over the last few months. This access to multi-functional portable devices presents both opportunities in terms of enabling greater productivity and creativity, but also raises important security challenges.
"Business intelligence and market information in whatever form, whether as contact details for customers, product pricing, or other commercially sensitive information, is at the heart of competitive advantage and reputation of one business over another," added O’Leary.
"Security of data must always be a top priority and no longer needs to be as significant a challenge. There are now many mobile device management solutions available to businesses to put such structures in place to secure their remote network and mobile devices."
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