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Bringing personal computers to work becoming more common

It is becoming as commonplace to see employees packing their own computer to bring to work as it is to pack a lunch, according to a new report from Gartner. The research firm said respondents to a recent survey of 528 IT managers at large organizations in the U.S., U.K. and Germany said that, on average, 10 percent of workers use employee-owned notebooks as their primary work PC. The respondents predicted that figure could jump to 14 percent by mid-2010, Gartner added. “Growing numbers of employees are asking to use personally owned notebooks for work and an increasing proportion of companies will meet these requests through employee-owned notebook programs,” said Meike Escherich, principal research analyst at Gartner. Of course, any new movement will face opponents – so most workers shouldn't expect to get full autonomy when it comes to using personal computers at work, yet. Most of those not allowing for employee-owned computers cite unacceptable security risks and costs into the workplace as the primary concerns. During the past two years, nine out of 10 companies have addressed the issue of employee-owned devices, the survey said. Nearly half (48 percent) prohibit their use outright; many others (43 percent) have specific policies that allow their use.