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Enterprises Firmly in the Age of “Bring Your Own Device” according to New iPass Mobile Enterprise Report

IT ceding control as mobile workforce expands and connectivity costs set to rise; 73 percent of enterprises now allow non-IT managed devices at work

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., — September 29, 2011 — iPass Inc. (NASDAQ: IPAS), a leading provider of mobility services for enterprises and service providers, today published its annual Mobile Enterprise Report. The report found that 73 percent of enterprises allow non-IT managed devices to access corporate resources, as the number of mobile workers continues to rise. Based on company size, 82 percent of small and medium enterprises and 66 percent of large enterprises allow non-IT managed devices to access corporate resources.

The report, which draws from the experiences of more than 200 IT executives at enterprises worldwide, also revealed 68 percent of IT executives believe their enterprise mobility costs would rise over the next 12 months. The bulk of the increase was attributed to an increase in the number of mobile users and employees’ expanding use of multiple devices.

“Progressive IT departments are reinventing themselves from a command and control perspective as mobility is the dominant force shaping the IT landscape,” said Barbara Nelson, chief technology officer at iPass. “There are measurable gains to be realized by implementing technology that mobilizes a workforce and enables IT to regain security and control.”

“Mobile policy is a critical element of a successful mobile strategy as it challenges IT leaders to think about the landscape of devices needing support and how the capabilities of these platforms differ,” said Maribel Lopez, principal of Lopez Research. “As a result IT departments should consider the various security, support and cost issues associated with making mobile work, as it provides IT with a great hook into business units to help create strategic value by mobilizing business processes – the Holy Grail of mobility.”

With a surprising 65 percent of the companies surveyed reporting some form of security issue over the past year, IT managers feel they are losing control over mobile computing. 41 percent state they have less control over their employees’ choice of devices than a year ago, and just one in five feel that they have increased control. Significantly, the majority of IT managers believe their companies need to update their IT polices in regards to employee connectivity and mobile device use.

The survey also uncovered:

  • Nearly two thirds of IT management indicate that their enterprises need to update policies for device usage, data access, and data retention. 65 percent of IT managers believe that they need to update their security policies.
  • The top two mobility issues most challenging for IT are providing support for specialized members’ (i.e., executives) non-provisioned devices, and the onboarding and ongoing support for both personal and corporate mobile devices.
  • Tablets are quickly gaining momentum, either as a replacement for a laptop or as an additional mobile device. 81 percent of enterprises support the use of tablets by executives and 57 percent for sales representatives.
  • 65 percent of IT departments own the corporate-wide mobility spend, up from 48 percent in 2010.
  • 68 percent of enterprises audit their mobility spend annually, quarterly, or monthly, compared to 65 percent in 2010. But there were still many enterprises (21 percent) that rarely or never audit their mobility spend.

 

About the Report

The iPass Mobile Enterprise Report is published annually and based on a survey of 224 IT executives conducted between May 1 and August 31, 2011. Respondents are chosen from pre-qualified IT lists from two major IT-focused magazines. All respondents are currently employed IT professionals, at the director level or above. 56 percent of this year’s respondents work for companies with more than 1,000 employees and 35 percent at companies with a workforce larger than 5,000 individuals. The iPass Mobile Enterprise Report can be found at /mobile-resources-surveys/reports/mer.

About iPass Inc.

Founded in 1996, iPass (NASDAQ: IPAS) manages mobile connectivity for large enterprises and global service providers through mobility and cloud services. With thousands of enterprise customers, iPass is a leading provider of enterprise mobility services which simply, smartly and openly facilitate access from any device on any network, while providing IT with the visibility and control necessary to support the demands of the enterprise workforce. iPass also provides Wi-Fi exchange services robust enough to support both the business and mass market requirements of service providers. Additional information is available at www.iPass.com or on Smarter Connections, the iPass blog.