UK senior execs lag behind peers in tablet use at work

Cisco survey shows that while tablet uptake is increasing overall, the UK is behind other countries such as the US and France

The UK is lagging behind its peers in enabling tablet use among senior executives, according to a new survey commissioned by networking firm Cisco.

The survey, which was conducted by Redshift Research and took results from 1,500 IT managers and executives in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Spain, revealed that while 38 per cent of senior executives in the US are given tablet devices at work, that figure is 21 per cent in the UK.

The UK topped the league table in wanting to restrict access to applications, with 56 per cent responding that this would be their policy, compared with 48 per cent overall.

Tom Puorro, director of product management, IPCBU, Cisco Systems, said that security fears would remain this year, but companies will continue to explore the benefits of enabling mobile technologies.

"Mobile workers and virtual workspaces are here to stay. But so are the demands on IT to continue to ensure enterprise-grade security, manageability and interoperability.

"2012 promises to be an exciting year and IT leaders are a critical component in unleashing innovation and enabling organisations to take advantage of the next wave of business growth and opportunity."

The survey also revealed that three-quarters of IT managers consider email and document-sharing as essential in a mobile device.

About half agreed or strongly agreed that video conferencing, instant messaging, access to company databases and synchronisation with other business devices are desirable, as opposed to necessary.

However, 48 per cent of companies responded that they would never allow employees to bring and use their own devices at work, preferring to issue and control them themselves.