Dell KACE (http://twitter.com/#!/DellKACE) has announced the results from a new global survey of nearly 750 IT professionals on the effect that personal devices have on business demonstrating the growing "consumerization of IT" trend. And the survey shows some positive results for Apple.

Fifty-nine percent of those surveyed reported their personal devices have created the need for organizations to support multiple operating systems. What's more, 60% reported a greater demand for support of Mac OS X since the introduction of the Apple iPad and iPhone.

The survey finds that many (62%) IT managers feel they lack the necessary tools to properly manage personal devices. Conducted by Dimensional Research and commissioned by Dell KACE, the survey revealed 87% of companies have employees that use some kind of personal device for work including laptops, smartphones and tablet computers but are unable to effectively protect corporate data and intellectual property as well as ensure compliance.

"Consumer products are evolving into viable businesses tools, but according to our research, the majority of companies do not have a proper strategy in place to manage these devices which opens them up to serious security risks," says Diane Hagglund, senior research analyst for Dimensional Research and the study’s author. "Consumerization of IT is not simply a passing trend -- it is the way business will be conducted on an ongoing basis, especially in the small and medium business (SMB) market, so it is critical that companies put policies and standards into place to support these devices to ensure the security of corporate and intellectual property."

Personal devices continue to proliferate the businesses as they see the value in a more mobile, efficient and connected workforce. The primary goal of the “Consumerization of IT: A Survey of IT Professionals” study was to gather data about the use of employee personal devices for business and corporate policy for their adoption in the workplace. According to the research, security needs top the list for IT managers when it comes to managing external mobile devices with 82% citing their concerns about the use of personal devices for business use, and another 62% specifically concerned about network security breaches. Key survey findings include:

° 87% of respondents reported employees use personal devices for work purposes;

° 82% of survey respondents cited they have concerns about the use of personal devices for work purposes;

° 64% revealed they're not cnfident that they know of all personal devices being used for business purposes;

° 32% revealed employees use unauthorized personal devices and applications to connect to their network; and,

° 88% said they believe it's important to have a policy in place to support personal devices, and another 62 percent revealed their organization lacks the necessary tools to manage personal devices.

"The results of our latest survey represent a significant shift in how systems administrators manage their organization’s networks in today’s disparate global workforce," says Rob Meinhardt, general manager and co-founder for Dell KACE. "It’s absolutely essential that IT teams deploy a strategy that provides end-to-end management capabilities on a variety of operating systems to effectively protect networks and address the 'consumerization of IT'."

-- Dennis Sellers