Mobile devices continue to gain prominence in the workplace, with almost 50% of IT professionals claiming to be less reliant on their computers as a result of increased mobile use.

A survey by TechBeat in association with Three revealed 85% of those questioned say they feel their productivity has increased as a result of mobile use.

Three’s Nicola Mortimer (pictured) said: “The increase in use of mobile devices in the workplace has resulted in higher data requirements as employees look to their smartphone as an auxiliary to their PC or laptop.

“With 76% of survey respondents having one device for work and leisure, our new plans are designed to be appropriately robust to meet both the business and personal needs of the user.”

Mobile phones are now used like computers, and are filled with important and sensitive data. Three out of four of those surveyed expressed concern about mobile security, yet only 12% have restrictions applied to their work phone.

In Association with

Mortimer advises that mobiles should be treated with the same anti-virus protection as PCs are. “Some employees can often feel that, as this is the device they use for personal use, there should be no restriction to content. However, the risk cannot be underestimated. A solution that many of our customers are implementing is having a separate business and personal profile on their handset which allows more stringent restrictions to be applied to the business profile without affecting the personal use.”