Gartner: Mobile Device Adoption in the Workplace Not Yet Mature

Mobile device adoption in the workplace is not yet mature, found a recent survey from Gartner. Although 80 percent of workers surveyed received one or more corporate-issued devices, desktops are still the most popular corporate device among businesses, with more than half of workers receiving corporate-issued desktop PCs. The survey findings are based on the 2016 Gartner Personal Technologies Study, which was conducted from June to August 2016 among 9,592 respondents in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia.

36 percent of workers received laptops, including convertible laptops. Adoption of convertible laptops as a corporate-issued device is still very low, but has been gradually increasing. 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. Adding desktops and laptops (including convertible laptops) together, 75 percent of workers will receive at least one PC-type device in mature countries.

In contrast to the high numbers of corporate-issued PCs in the workplace, relatively few workers receive mobile devices. The majority of smartphones used in the workplace are personally owned devices, only 23 percent of employees surveyed are given corporate-issued smartphones. The usage rate of personally owned tablets lags behind that of personally owned smartphones. Only 21 percent of employees use tablets, regardless of whether they are corporate issued or personally owned.

When employees are provided with corporate-issued devices, they are generally happy with the devices that they receive. Less than 20 percent 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.