As per a new Gartner report, 50% of the world's companies will implement bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs by 2017, altogether replacing employer-offered computing devices. The new study also shows that nearly 40% will give employees a choice between bringing their own devices to work and employer-provided devices. What works in BYOD's favor is improved productivity due to greater employee satisfaction and cost-cutting - the average cost of employer-provided devices is  $600 for one employee per year.
In another joint study by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI) and Cisco, 66% Indian CIOs encourage workers to carry their own devices to work while 44% give the flexibility to choose and use a particular set of personal devices.
About 72% of CIOs reported a spike in demand for greater flexibility in bringing endpoint devices to work while 64% said they are seeing a surge in authorization requests for having access to mobile devices.
BYOD incorporation in Indian enterprises is being carried out at a much steadier pace than what industry insiders predicted. The Indian market has finally reached a point where personal device usage in business is getting recognition from IT. Enterprises are now giving serious thought to adopting BYOD to improve efficiency and productivity, to mobilize their human resource, to drive employee satisfaction and to enable cost reduction.
Going by the Dell CIO Enterprise Tablet Survey 2013, 50% of the participants are contemplating BYOD implementation in the next 6 months whereas 80% plan to make the transition in 2014. BYOD programs are the need of the hour and will drive mobile investments this year.
The Director of Product Marketing, Dell India, Shishir Singh, said, " How people are using mobility devices and what they expect from these devices is changing each day. Tablets today allow customers to create and consume content in new and exciting ways which makes technology more accessible and intuitive."
But enterprises are treading cautiously as they are yet to find the means to address compliance and security issues as well as have the resources to support multi-manufacturer products.