Vast growth potential for mobile workstyles in Malaysia

Malaysia holds the record for the most number of devices per employee accessing corporate networks
                                                                                                                                     
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA — September 25, 2012 — The number of computing devices – such as desktops, laptops, notebooks, netbooks, ultrabooks, smartphones and tablets – that an employee uses has grown significantly in recent years.

Citrix today released the findings from its Workplace of the Future report, which polled 1,900 senior IT decision-makers across 19 countries.

According to the report, the average Malaysian employee currently leads the world’s population with the highest number of devices accessing the corporate network, an average of 6 devices per employee. This number is expected to rise to almost 8 devices per employee by 2020.

Independently conducted by Vanson Bourne, the Citrix Workplace of the Future report demonstrates that Malaysia is ahead of its global counterparts with the current global average of 4.43 devices and 4.39 devices on average in Asia Pacific. The global average is, however, predicted to rise to almost six devices by 2020.

The Citrix Workplace of the Future report also shows that globally a third of employees (29 percent) will no longer work from the traditional office. Instead, employees will base themselves from various semi-permanent locations including the home (64 percent), field and project sites (60 percent), and customer or partner premises (50 percent). People are also expected to access corporate applications, data and services while working from locations such as hotels, airports, coffee shops and while in transit.

The trend towards fewer office-based employees – those who use multiple computing devices to access corporate applications, and data and services from a range of locations outside of the traditional office – is part of a global trend called mobile workstyles. Globally, a quarter (24 percent) of organizations has already fully adopted mobile workstyles. By the middle of 2014, 83 percent of organizations will have embraced mobile workstyles.

 In comparison, in Malaysia, where mobile workstyles are establishing a foothold, (14 percent) of organizations surveyed have already fully adopted mobile workstyles, and by the middle of 2014, more than two-thirds (69 percent) of organizations will have embraced mobile workstyles.
  
The following are some of the reasons why Malaysian businesses are in favor of mobile workstyles.
 For organizations, mobile workstyles create a more flexible, agile workplace (81 percent), lower employee-related costs (70 percent), help retain (67 percent) and attract (49 percent) top talent and reduce real estate costs (47 percent).
 Employees benefit from less commuting time (79 percent), more flexibility (70 percent), better work/life balance (70 percent) and increased personal productivity (63 percent).
 More than three-quarters (84 percent) of organizations that have already implemented mobile workstyles have seen cost-related benefits as a direct result.
 Sixty percent of organizations will use Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) initiatives to manage the growing number of devices that people use to access the corporate network.
 The demand for increased worker productivity is driving organizations (78 percent) to implement a formal BYOD policy. Employees will generally choose and purchase their own computing devices, with three-quarters (76 percent) of organizations reimbursing the employee in-part or fully.

However, cultural concerns around trust, specific job roles and perceived difficulties in staff management (84 percent) were the top reasons why 19 percent of organizations in Malaysia have no plans for a mobile workstyle implementation. The top challenge hindering the implementation of BYOD are concerns around information security (65 percent).

Proactively managing Malaysia’s mobile workstyles trend
Organizations need to proactively manage people, data and apps through policy and technology solutions in order to securely manage data across a mobile workforce that accesses corporate resources from multiple locations, through a range of devices that operate on different platforms.

While driving the implementation of mobile workstyles, organizations have to ensure sensitive data is managed correctly. Eighty percent of organizations in Malaysia consider eligibility a key part of their mobile workstyles policy. Similarly, the key drivers in Malaysia for an organization to provide funding for BYOD are to take advantage of potential cost savings by shifting procurement and maintenance to employees and to provide the IT department more control over which BYO devices are allowed.

Organizations are relying on multiple complementary technologies to manage their current and future mobile workstyle strategies. All enabling technologies are focused on the secure management of data and apps, including desktop virtualization and an enterprise application store, as well as online file-sharing, meetings and collaboration services for a distributed workforce.