Cisco finds firms slow to issue tablets due to security concerns

Despite growing demand for tablet devices, smartphone handsets continue to outpace tablet deployments in enterprises by a factor of three to one, according to Cisco.

The company said a recent survey of business users found many firms are still concerned about the security and management of tablet devices in the enterprise IT space.

Among the biggest concerns the company sees among administrators is management of applications, with 48 per cent of firms citing the management of third-party applications as a major concern.

"Mobile workers and virtual workspaces are here to stay, but so are the demands on IT to continue to ensure enterprise-grade security, manageability and interoperability," explained Cisco director of product management Tom Puorro.

"2012 promises to be an exciting year and IT leaders are a critical component in unleashing innovation and enabling organisations to take advantage of the next wave of business growth and opportunity."

The fear over tablets was particularly strong in the UK, where 56 per cent of UK firms cited a desire for remote management and administration tools on company-issued tablets.

The UK was also the least likely of the surveyed countries to have a tablet issued to senior executives, with just 27 per cent of UK companies polled in the study admitting to having tablets deployed at the executive level.

By comparison, 38 per cent of US firms surveyed have issued tablets to executives and 21 per cent of US respondents have received requests from employees to introduce tablets in the workplace.

The US suffers from some of the biggest headaches when it comes to device management, though.

Around 64 per cent of firms surveyed reported unauthorised use of personal devices and 75 per cent of US administrators said their companies needed to establish new rules on device usage and security.