New InformationWeek Reports Research Available to Registered Site Visitors - More Than Two-Thirds of Companies Let Employees Connect to Network With Personal Devices

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- InformationWeek Reports, a service for peer-based IT research and analysis, announced the release of its latest research report: The OS Mess: 5 Steps to Clean It Up. The report encompasses deep analysis of InformationWeek's latest OS Wars Survey results, and provides IT decision makers a handle on the myriad operating systems now making its way into the enterprise. More than 440 business technology professionals responded to the research. InformationWeek Reports' library of more than 1,000 research reports and briefs is available free of charge to registered users.

Research Summary:

Nearly every company supports Windows, half officially support Apple devices, and three in ten support Linux or Android operating systems. Two-thirds of companies let employees connect their personal gadgets to the network with little or no guidance. And when things go wrong, the help desk gets the call. InformationWeek's survey results point to the need to clean up the OS mess without stifling employee choice or limiting productivity.

Findings:  

• 99% of the IT organizations surveyed still support Windows, but 85% now officially support more than one OS.
• 65% of IT organizations also allow one or more additional operating systems that are not officially supported.
• While more than two-thirds of IT organizations let employees connect to the company network using personal devices, most don't enforce standards for antivirus, patches and device selection.
• 78% of the IT pros are worried about this lack of standards enforcement, citing security, management and support as the main problems.
• Only 28% of responding organizations have strict rules for mobile device access.

For full access to the research study, please visit: http://reports.informationweek.com/abstract/7/7697/Enterprise-Software/research-the-os-mess.html. The report author, Mike Healey, is president of Yeoman Technology Group, an engineering and research firm that helps companies maximize technology investments.

"The proliferation of platforms without strict policies and discipline has created a huge mess for IT support, with tremendous potential security risks," says Lorna Garey, content director of InformationWeek Reports. "Mike lays out five critical steps to clean things up before they get even further out of control."

For more information on our membership programs please visit: http://reports.informationweek.com/join

For more information:
Art Wittmann
VP & Managing Director, InformationWeek Reports
415-947-6361; awittmann@techweb.com

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