UPDATED 11:37 EDT / AUGUST 14 2013

SMB Mobilization Drives Double-Digit Productivity Gains

More than 50 percent of small businesses that support BYOD have become more efficient thanks to mobile devices, according to the latest infographic from Citrix GoToMeeting. The company says 21 percent of business owners who let their workers use smartphones and tablets for work reported productivity gains of more than 30 percent.

Overall, 19 percent of U.S. employers have implemented IT systems and policies for managing employee devices, compared with 25 percent in Canada and 34 percent in the UK and Germany. These figures stand in stark contrast to American businesses’ lead in personal device usage: 68 percent of American employees bring their phones to work, as do 65 percent of Canadian workers, 62 percent of their German peers and 47 percent of Britons.

Unsurprisingly, the PC is the most popular device in the workplace with a 64 percent usage rate. The smartphone is only 2 points behind with 62 percent, ahead of the laptop with its 61 percent slice of the pie and the tablet, which can be found in 21 percent of all offices.

Mobile is driving both productivity and flexible work styles. About 74 percent of U.S. respondents told Citrix that their businesses provide flexible policies for some or all employees, and 53 said that they use conferencing more than they did a year ago. A third cited technological improvements as the reason for the latter gain, while 35 percent pointed at the need to work with partners and customers long-distance.

The mobile explosion is generating business value and invigorating the economy in the process. Saga North America, a provider of SMB software solutions, recently found that nearly half of small business owners consider technology as a primary driver of new business value.


Since you’re here …

… We’d like to tell you about our mission and how you can help us fulfill it. SiliconANGLE Media Inc.’s business model is based on the intrinsic value of the content, not advertising. Unlike many online publications, we don’t have a paywall or run banner advertising, because we want to keep our journalism open, without influence or the need to chase traffic.The journalism, reporting and commentary on SiliconANGLE — along with live, unscripted video from our Silicon Valley studio and globe-trotting video teams at theCUBE — take a lot of hard work, time and money. Keeping the quality high requires the support of sponsors who are aligned with our vision of ad-free journalism content.

If you like the reporting, video interviews and other ad-free content here, please take a moment to check out a sample of the video content supported by our sponsors, tweet your support, and keep coming back to SiliconANGLE.