PHL employees happiest when left to their own devices –VMWare study

If they had their way, Filipino employees would choose to use their own mobile devices such as laptops, smartphones and tablets at work, according to a survey on work-style preferences commissioned by virtualization software maker VMWare.

 

The first VMware New Way of Life study in the Philippines showed organizations would do well to provide greater support for mobile workers.

 

“We are experiencing a technology revolution that is being dictated by the demands of an increasingly young, connected, and vibrant Philippines society,” said Emmanuel Portugal, country manager of VMware in the Philippines.

 

Portugal said employers may want to "adopt more flexible IT policies," even as he warned there may be concerns around "ensuring corporate data security and compliance.”

 

The VMware-commissioned study, which surveyed more than 2,100 people in 12 countries in the Asia-Pacific region including 150 from the Philippines, was conducted by Acorn Research.

 

Bring Your Own Device

 

The study showed the "Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)" attitude is prevalent in the Philippines, with 81 percent of respondents having two or more personal devices. Of these, 85 percent bring these to work.  The reasons cited included:

 

 

Corporate IT support 'lacking'

 

But while 93 percent of end-users said their IT department is aware that they bring their own devices to work, only 32 percent get IT support for those devices.

 

Despite this, 41 percent of respondents said they will continue to use their own technology to do their work.

 

The study said 60 percent said they will either troubleshoot problems by themselves, while 52 percent will rely on search engines like Google to find solutions.

 

“The undeniable call to action for companies in the Philippines is to adapt to the personal needs of our young workforce by modernizing IT policies to enable the next generation mobile worker without compromising risk, security and/or compliance to the organization,” said Portugal.

 

Tech mobility

 

The study found 75 percent of employees value technological mobility in their role.

 

Some 73 percent said they are happier when allowed to use their personal portable devices at work, while 71 percent said such companies would be their employer of choice.

 

“The floods that swept the Philippines last year are a great example of why it is important to empower employees to work flexibly in their own time, anywhere and from any device. By taking advantage of virtualization and cloud computing to modernize their IT policies, companies can effectively manage employee access to corporate applications and data whilst ensuring that sensitive information is kept confidential,” said Portugal.

 

Horizon suite

 

Last Feb. 21, VMware unveiled the VMware Horizon Suite, which simplifies end-user computing and empowers workforce mobility that connects end-users to their data, applications and desktops on any device.

 

Yet, this also allows IT security and control.

 

VMWare study

 

Participants in the study work in organizations with more than 1,000 staff globally, and for at least 15 hours or more a week.

 

The survey was conducted in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

 

Indonesia and Philippines were added to the VMware study in 2013, VMWare said. — TJD, GMA News