Desktop as a Service a Possible Solution to BYOD Concerns

BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) is becoming more and more common, but many businesses still don’t have formal policies, according to a NaviSite survey. Users want to rely more on their own flashy new smartphones and tablets and less on inflexible company PCs, despite the headaches they pose for IT administrators.

"For years, organizations have been trying to tackle the challenges of BYOD; more people are demanding to use their own devices for work, giving them access to sensitive data, and IT departments are struggling to figure out how to secure and manage it," said Chris Patterson, vice president of product management at NaviSite. "When you add the growth of mobile and remote workforces, now there's an even greater need to make sure workers can access the information they need when they need it, regardless of device. Desktop-as-a-Service is a really simple way for IT executives to have increased control over corporate intellectual property while providing more flexibility for today's workforce demands."

While 80 percent of the more than 700 IT professionals NaviSite surveyed said that BYOD was “the new normal,” only 45 percent of them had some sort of formal BYOD program in place.

This can spell disaster as smartphones and tablets intermingle personal and work data.

One solution is Desktop as a Service (DaaS). Platforms like NaviSite’s NaviCloud One allow users to access desktops for nearly any device, including PCs, tablets and smartphones, while sensitive company data stays secure on remote systems. Administrators can centralize end-user desktops and separate them from physical devices.

Of those surveyed, 68 percent said they were concerned about security, though only 18 percent said it was driving DaaS demand. The IT professionals said that most of the demand came from employees themselves wanting access to corporate applications, with user demand driving 42 percent of adoption.