ESG Online File Sharing and Collaboration in the Enterprise Market Landscape Report

ESG has observed a significant shift in the acceptance of alternative endpoint devices by corporate IT staffs. What are the forces compelling these changes? As shown in Figure 3, end-user demand tops the list of drivers for alternative endpoint device usage, identified by nearly three-quarters (71%) of respondent organizations. The trend is more evident in larger IT shops with more than 1,000 people in the overall organization. With the continued mass market adoption of sophisticated devices like smartphones and tablets in the consumer space, it simply follows that these users would push to utilize those devices for both personal and work purposes. The second most commonly cited factor causing a shift in endpoint computing also involves employee influence, specifically mobile or remote end-users requiring application access from a variety of devices.

As a result of these changes, many organizations are also modifying their policies to accommodate the influx of employee-owned and -provided PCs, tablets, and other endpoint computing devices. For example, of companies that allow end-users to bring their own PC or equivalent device, 83% allow employees to use the device for both personal and business use. In addition, 54% of companies currently provide a stipend to pay for devices while another 27% plan to in the future.

Ultimately, consumerization can be a "win-win"-corporate IT staffs pass on the cost of device acquisition and service plans while maintaining control over their organization's information, and employees have the freedom to use devices of their own choosing. However, there are critical issues that IT managers must consider, such as providing application and workspace deployment options that enable IT to manage and maintain user identity, device independence, security, and predictable productivity. As we will soon discuss, these considerations will be paramount for enterprise IT organizations who not only are facing end-users that want to use popular online file sharing and collaboration solutions, but that want to do so from the endpoint device(s) of their choosing.