Azzurri bursts Citrix's BYOD bubble

Citrix warned UK risks falling behind China if it doesn't better embrace BYOD, but Azzurri claims trend is more trouble than it's worth

Comms reseller Azzurri has hit back at Citrix's pro-BYOD rhetoric and claimed that the UK is snubbing the trend because it is more trouble than it's worth.

Last week, virtualisation and mobility giant Citrix – perhaps unsurprisingly – urged the UK to place a greater emphasis on mobility or risk "being outmanoeuvred" by emerging markets such as China, India and Brazil.

It unveiled research it commissioned which found that only half of the UK businesses it quizzed thought having mobility solutions would give them a competitive advantage, compared to 93 per cent of respondents from China and 85 per cent and 78 per cent from India and Brazil respectively.

According to James Stevenson, the vendor's area vice president for northern Europe, these statistics showed that "economies we consider to be more developed [are] at risk of being left behind".

But Azzurri has poured water on Citrix's claims, insisting that the only reason the UK is apparently lagging behind is because it has tried out BYOD technology and has found it to be more trouble than it is worth.

Paul Fawcett, product manager of mobility solutions at Azzurri, said: "Citrix's research raises an interesting question around the ROI of BYOD. However, far from proving that the UK is lagging behind, I see it as an example of the UK's maturing approach to BYOD.

"Many UK organisations have tried BYOD to a greater and lesser extent, but far from giving them a competitive edge, most have found it caused more problems that it solved... BYOD is proving to be far less popular than previously thought."

Azzurri cited its own research which found that CYOD – choose your own device – was a much better option for organisations as it eliminates security risks involved in managing a host of staff devices. CYOD allows companies to offer their staff a selection of mobile equipment from which they can choose what they want to use while still maintaining ownership and security control.

"We have found that CYOD is also much less of a cultural leap for the organisation, since maintaining ownership of the contract is much closer to the status quo of corporate provision," added Fawcett. "BYOD... is often a leap too far for many."