Juniper Research: Employee-owned devices in workplace to reach 1 billion by 2018
25 November, 2013
category: Corporate, Digital ID
A new report from Juniper Research forecasts that the number of employee-owned smart phones and tablets in the workplace will exceed 1 billion units by 2018, likely the product of the ever-growing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) trend.
The 1 billion-unit figure represents nearly 35% of the total installed base of consumer owned tablets and smart phones. The report makes sure to note, however, that there are a number of considerations and implications that must be addressed, stating that a single policy or measure may not be sufficient when devising the future of BYOD strategy.
The report, entitled, “Mobile Security: BYOD, mCommerce, Consumer & Enterprise 2013-2018,” found that while BYOD has the potential to benefit organizations in both employee satisfaction and productivity, the threat that unprotected employee devices pose, cannot be ignored. Juniper prescribes that businesses looking to adopt BYOD must consider mobile devices as another endpoint, while also devising measures to alleviate the challenges and the risks associated with managing a multi-platform environment.
According to Juniper’s findings, growth in the mobile security market is largely being driven by the enterprise sector, particularly in BYOD and mobile device management. In the consumer segment, Juniper foresees a steady growth in security software revenue, making up an expected 40% of the global mobile security revenue by the end of 2018. This growth will likely be the result of increased consumer awareness of both the security solutions available and of the risks posed by fraud and malware to the sensitive data stored on their devices.
Also worth noting in the Juniper report is that Western Europe is currently the largest revenue hub for the mobile security vendors. In North America, meanwhile, more than half of all mobile devices in the US alone will have some form of security app installed by the end of 2018.
Juniper’s full “Mobile Security: BYOD, mCommerce, Consumer & Enterprise 2013-2018” report is available for download on the research agency’s website.