A survey by Good Technology, a provider of secure and managed enterprise mobility for iPhone, iPad, Android, and other smart phone platforms, details a rise in bring your own device programs globally, particularly in the finance and health care industries.

The rise in popularity and proliferation of smart phones and tablets has driven the consumerization of IT wherein employees are requesting use of their personal, mobile devices for professional functions. As a result, IT departments are developing policies to allow employees to use their own devices to access confidential enterprise data and information. Good Technology surveyed its clients to determine how they adapt policies in support of employee mobility.

Key findings include:

•    Large companies from the finance/insurance and health care industries dominate the overall BYOD picture, with retail/wholesale and government less likely to support BYOD.

•    Eighty percent of those supporting BYOD have more than 2,000 employees; 60% have more than 5,000 employees; and 35% have more than 10,000 employees.

•    Fifty percent of companies with BYOD models are requiring employees to cover all costs, and their users are taking them up on the offer; 45% percent provide their employees with a stipend or expense-back options to help subsidize the cost of their mobile device or service plan.

•    Companies that offer BYOD stipends have the highest rate of employees using mobile devices when compared to companies that require employees cover all BYOD costs themselves, or allow for expense-back of service plan costs, but limit to users with management pre-approval.

•    Many believe that BYOD doesn't work outside the United States due to privacy laws or greater exposure to highly variable roaming costs. The company data shows otherwise, with nearly half (44.9%) of respondents indicating they are deploying BYOD programs in multiple countries.

A recent Forrester Research report underscores some of the benefits of a BYOD model saying, "For IT professionals, there is a silver lining in all this employee choice and power: you can outsource the cost of devices, monthly service, and even some applications to employees. This is easy to see in the way employees are willing to share or shoulder the cost of smart phones and monthly plans. But it's not a stretch to realize that for any dual-use device or service, your employees might help."

"Just as we saw last year, smart phones and tablets will be popular gifts this holiday season, and come January employees will bring these devices to work in droves," says John Herrema, senior vice president of Corporate Strategy at Good Technology.

Read more about BYOD in John Ginovsky’s blog of 12-28-11