Australian businesses are getting better at handling the proliferation of smart devices in their workplaces but are still concerned about security and increased technology costs, a new report says.
Networking outfit Juniper’s 16-country Digital Cohesion study, released today at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, found most business and consumers see digital cohesion as an inevitable — and positive — societal development, with advantages including improved community infrastructure like emergency services and lower living costs through smarter homes.
The survey also found both consumers and businesses have concerns about security and compliance around mega-services, however, showing thee concerns will be significantly more influential than design and aesthetic preferences on user behaviour and brand choices.
In the past three years, 91 per cent of ANZ respondents saw an increase in the number of employees’ personal devices connecting to the network.
87 per cent said the increase in the number of connected devices has significantly impacted network traffic and performance and, of these, 42 per cent have had to invest further in equipment and capacity to deal with the increase.
When it comes to dealing with the influx of smart devices meanwhile 43 per cent of local respondents said their network would take them on and deal with the impact accordingly as opposed to refusing access to unapproved devices. One third said they would partition the network to cope.
Juniper’s regional VP Ralph Candiloro said the findings suggest that trust is non-negotiable for users and a thoughtful, proactive approach to security provisioning within these mega-services is paramount.
“Forces including user expectations, competition and technology innovation will continue to rise quickly giving life to new ways of working with organisations and people, although businesses are yet to realise the true potential here,” he said.
“While Australian and New Zealand businesses acknowledge the benefits of digital cohesion and identify a considerable shift towards smart device use in their work environment, they remain concerned about security, increased technology costs and job security. This is a barrier to adoption in our market.
“Businesses and consumers have new and increasing expectations of service providers as they move towards a more connected future that has a greater reliance on devices to save time and increase productivity. Cost and security remain key considerations when it comes to adoption across the board and this is an opportunity for the industry to respond.”
The research, in January 2017, surveyed 4,800 consumers and senior IT decision makers in 16 countries.
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