Christmas gadget bonanza to renew consumerisation concerns

A bumper crop of new devices from the holiday season will once again send IT staff scrambling to roll out consumerisation plans, according to IBM.

The company has extended its enterprise tablet management and collaboration with the addition of seven applications for the Android, iOS and BlackBerry platforms. The applications include social networking, telephony and instant messaging.

The tools will also improve mobile integration with IBM's Lotus Notes, Sametime and Lotus Symphony platforms.

The release of the tools comes as IBM is predicting a looming spike in the demand for enterprise support of mobile devices. With the sale of consumer electronics exploding over the holiday shopping season, many employees will be bringing new devices into the workplace and seeking to integrate with IT environments.

Much like the first months of 2011 saw a spotlight placed on consumerisation of enterprise IT, the company believes 2012 will kick off with talk of accommodating and managing a new crop of mobile devices.

"Last year when people came back into the office, they probably drove their IT departments crazy," explained Kevin Cavanaugh, IBM mobile collaboration group vice president of business and technology.

"The IT guys were trying to figure out whether these devices were secure enough to connect to the IT network."

Cavanaugh told V3 that, unlike last year, companies have experience with consumerisation and in 2012 many departments will have the chance to not only meet demand, but also get ahead in the race to accommodate personal devices.

With systems already in place at many enterprises, Cavanaugh sees firms needing to retool their systems for new or updated devices, and focusing on developing the policy management structures to properly equip and control end-user devices.

"The state of the art has progressed a lot in the past year," he said.

"I think there is an opportunity for many IT organisations to be seen in a positive light."