Study Predicts BYOD Boom By 2016

A recent Telework Week report indicated that bring-your-own-device, or BYOD, programs have yet to fully take hold in the federal government, even though many employees are pressing to use their own smartphones and tablets for work. That may soon change: A new analysis predicts more than one-third of organizations will stop providing devices to workers by 2016.

Based on answers to its recent global survey of chief information officers, Gartner predicts that by 2016 38 percent of organizations will have stopped providing mobile devices to employees, instead allowing employees to choose and use their own devices in the workplace. By 2017, half of employees will be using their own devices for work, the analysis found.

But while BYOD is becoming more prevalent, the business case for it needs to be evaluated, Gartner noted. Most leaders, for example, do not understand the benefits of BYOD, with just 22 percent of CIOs saying they’ve made a strong business case for the option.