Desktops the leading corporate-issued device, as workers rely on own phones

SINGAPORE — Desktop computers are still the most popular corporate-issued device among businesses, with employees relying largely on their own mobile devices for work, found a survey by Gartner.

Although 80 per cent of employees surveyed reported receiving one or more corporate-issued devices, personal computers still proved to be the most popular, with more than half of workers receiving corporate-issued desktops, showed the survey.

Thirty-six per cent of workers received laptops, including convertible laptops.

While still low, the adoption of convertible laptops as a corporate-issued device has been gradually increasing, and Gartner analysts expect that more employees will receive convertible laptops in the next three years, driven by the Windows 10 refresh that can enhance the user experience with touch-based input.

In contrast, relatively fewer workers received mobile devices: Only 23 per cent of employees surveyed were given corporate-issued smartphones, reflecting that mobile device adoption in the workplace is not yet mature.

“The low adoption of corporate-issued mobile devices underlines the fact that large numbers of personally owned mobile devices are used in the workplace,” said Ms Mikako Kitagawa, principal research analyst at Gartner.

“In fact, more than half of employees who used smartphones at work rely solely on their personally owned smartphones.”

As for tablets, 21 per cent of employees reported using such devices — regardless of whether they were corporate issued or personally owned.

“In the era of mobility, it comes as something of a surprise that corporate usage of smartphones and tablets is not as high as PCs, even when the use of personally owned devices is taken into account,” said Ms Kitagawa.

“While it’s true that the cost of providing mobile devices can quickly escalate, proper usage of mobile devices can increase productivity, which can easily justify the extra costs.”

When employees are provided with corporate-issued devices, they are generally happy with the devices that they receive, said Gartner.

Less than 20 per cent of respondents said they were dissatisfied with their employer-provided devices. The satisfaction level is higher with tablets and smartphones compared with desktop and laptops.

“Usage of personally owned devices in the workplace is nothing new, but the survey results confirm that this trend has become a new workplace standard. Two-thirds of survey respondents said that they use a personally owned device or devices for work,” said Ms Kitagawa. “Smartphones and phablets are the most popular personally owned devices used for work, with 39 per cent of employees using them, compared with just 10 per cent who are only using corporate-issued smartphones and phablets.”

The survey findings are based on the 2016 Gartner Personal Technologies Study, which surveyed 9,592 respondents in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.