09 Dec 2009

Hosted Sharepoint could support use of employee-owned PCs

Hosted Sharepoint could be increasingly turned to by businesses after a new report has found that they expect the average number of workers who use employee-owned notebooks to increase from 10 per cent to 14 per cent by mid-2010.

A survey by Gartner found that 90 per cent of companies have addressed this issue over the past two years, while 43 per cent have specific policies which permit the use of employee-owned PCs.

With a large number of employees using their own computers, this could mean many are adopting flexible working practices and assessing information and networks at home or on the road.

Using hosted Sharepoint from Microsoft could prove beneficial. It allows employees to collaborate, manage content and share documents whether on-site or working remotely.

"In the current climate of cost containment, large enterprises are exploring all possibilities offered by alternative client computing architectures and device solution, and that includes employee-owned PCs, said research director at Gartner Annette Jump.

The poll also found that insurance and telecommunication companies are more likely to allow individuals to use their own PCs.