Cisco Systems (San Jose, CA) hosted a live streaming Internet TV broadcast today to share findings from the Cisco Connected World Report Part II, a global research effort involving more than 1300 employees and 1300 information technology (IT) professionals from over 13 countries on every continent. The respondents were surveyed in their use of networks, applications, devices, and awareness of IT policy, among other questions. The results from Part I of the study revealed that workers expect to be able to access information anywhere, anytime, with any device, at work or outside of it. Part II examined real-life trends like social media, streaming video, online gaming, and a plethora of consumer devices in the workplace,. The survey showed how these exploding trends are causing many employees around the world to question the relevance of corporate IT policies and break them with more regularity.
The survey revealed that three out of every five workers believe they don’t need to be in the office anymore to be productive. Many felt working from home was an important morale consideration. Two of every five said they would choose a job paying 10% less if it allowed workplace flexibility. But the majority of IT managers surveyed said they are not ready to accommodate the increasing trend of workers wanting to telecommute.
While more than eight in ten IT professionals indicated their companies have an IT policy outlining acceptable uses of social media and personal devices like iPads and iPhones at work, 47% of workers said their company does not have an IT policy or they are unaware of it. This disconnect is a problem because 41% of workers admit to ignoring or breaking an existing policy anyway, often to get their job done more efficiently. Such a disconnect affects risk management and security objectives, not to mention the relationship IT has with the business.
The message is that IT managers need to balance productivity and flexibility with security. “Just the sheer number of IT devices that have come onto the market means IT managers cannot keep pace with the required changes to policy,” said panelist Nasrin Rezai, senior director of global IT security at Cisco. The policy of saying no to social media and “smart” devices buys a company time to address the issues of security and web attacks. It allows IT management time to consider how to re-engineer the system architecture, how to make it easy for employees to register their devices, and how to write new playbooks about social media—but are they doing these things?
Two out of five global employees (41%) say Facebook is restricted at their jobs, and 35% are restricted from using Twitter at work or with work devices. However, because workers are using the media on the side, the over-arching restricted access policy can create a security problem that IT is unaware of, according to Ray Smets, vice president and general manager of the wireless networking business unit at Cisco. Simplicity is the best way to tackle that, with a policy for each type of device, say the panelists.
Cisco’s policy of allowing any device, anywhere, including Facebook, is an encouraging trend that attracts high-quality prospective employees and encourages their workers to pursue a “work-life balance.” Rezai argues that Facebook isn’t restricted to being just an outlet for your personal life. It’s also a way to generate international business collaboration and interact with people to find solutions to problems, although some industries such as military or government simply cannot allow it.
Part I findings, issued last month, examined the desire of workers to access corporate networks, applications, and information anywhere at any time with virtually any device.
Does your company restrict access to Facebook and Twitter? Are you an IT manager for a company that allows (or does not allow) social media and smart devices on your network? Are you doing a job that can be done remotely but not allowed to telecommute, and why? Do you access social media Facebook or sync devices like your personal smartphone to your work laptop (or vice versa), and when you do, are you following IT policy or not? Share your views!
A replay of the Cisco broadcast is available here. More detailed results of the survey can be found here.
Cheers,
Valerie Coffey