But as with every upheaval, there’s some pain to be had. In the same study, researchers note that while employees are using their iPads, iPhones, Androids and netbooks at work, their employers are unaware of the extent, and have not put solid plans in place to regulate the use of employee-owned devices.

Not only are they on a different page as their employers, they’re in another bookstore.

Here are some of the highlights from the study:

• Employers don’t have an accurate understanding of what and how many consumer technologies their employees are using in the workplace. For example, workers in the survey reported that they are using smart phones, laptops and mobile phones in the workplace at nearly twice the rate reported by employers.
• Workers are using consumer technologies and applications for business, but give their employers poor grades for the internal IT support they provide for these technologies. The researchers found that more than 40 percent of workers surveyed are using text and instant messaging, online communities and blogs for work. Also, industry analysts predict that the number of workers using smart phones for work will double between 2009 and 2014. Yet not even half of employers allow workers to access enterprise applications via smart phones.
• Employees say their employers are more permissive about use of consumer technologies than is reported to be case by organizations. Sixty-seven percent of workers say they can access non-work-related websites, but only 44 percent of employers say their employees can access non-work-related sites. Likewise, 52 percent of workers say that can store personal data on the company network, but only 37 percent of employers say this is the case.
• Employers expect to increase business use of social networking applications significantly in the next year, yet they are not integrating those applications with their enterprise apps and often lack basic guidelines and policies governing the use of social media in the workplace. Forty-six percent of workers surveyed are dissatisfied with their employers’ integration of consumer devices and social networks with enterprise applications. What’s more, 40 percent of organizations surveyed say that don’t have guidelines for social media use in the workplace.

Researchers conclude that, “While [information workers] are intimately familiar and facile with technology, they have little understanding of the security risks, management issues, and policy and governance implications that arise from mass introduction of consumer devices and applications into the workplace.”

In other words, preparedness — that’s IT’s job. And here are some suggestions from the study authors:

• Manage and support these popular consumer technologies;
• Secure critical data and assets against hackers, viruses, identity thieves, and other widespread consumer IT threats;
• Offer the interactive “app” experiences that consumers are looking for when transacting with their suppliers;
• Handle the expected increase in transaction load that these new interactive experiences will impose on the IT infrastructure;
• Attract and retain the new generation of workers entering the workforce.

In a recent post here and on Forbes.com, our CEO Brian Madocks offered his own suggestions. Read what he had to say.

Frozen Treat: Three tips on resetting your smart phone.

How to Thaw a Frozen BlackBerry (all versions)

The first step to take if your BlackBerry is misbehaving is to reset it. Doing this will clear the internal memory and solve many issues. There are three ways to reset a BlackBerry: soft, double-soft, and hard.

Soft Reset
Press ALT+RIGHT SHIFT(CAP)+DELETE to perform a soft reset.

Use this reset method when you want to stop all applications on a BlackBerry while leaving the device powered on.

Double-Soft Reset
Start by performing a soft reset (ALT+RIGHT SHIFT(CAP)+DELETE). The screen will turn off. When it turns back on, press ALT+RIGHT SHIFT(CAP)+DELETE again. You should then see another blank screen, followed by an hourglass.

Performing a double-soft reset stops all applications on the BlackBerry and is nearly the equivalent of a hard reset. Timing is the key to performing this manuever. This is something to try if you are having difficulty removing the battery to perform a hard reset.

Hard Reset
Starting with the device powered ON, remove the battery for 30-60 seconds. After you put the battery back in, the device will reboot. This usually takes between one and three minutes.

NOTE: The BlackBerry Pearl, Curve and Storm only have the ability to perform a hard reset. However, there are third-party applications that you can download that provide the ability to perform a soft reset. (by Joel Reeves)

How to Thaw a Frozen Windows Mobile Device (Pocket PC Edition 5, 6)

Resets on Windows Mobile devices can be can be classified into two types: hard and soft.

Soft Reset
With this type of reset, memory stays intact, so it is fairly harmless to your device. Two benefits of a soft reset are that it unfreezes a slow or non-responsive device, and it closes all running applications. Most Windows Mobile phones have a “soft reset” button in a hole that you can press to reset the device. The location varies, so consult your device’s manual to find the button on your particular phone.

Hard Reset
This type of reset is a bit more extreme and should be used only if you have backed up your device or if you are intentionally trying to erase all data. Just like the soft reset, the method to hard reset your device will vary by model. Consult your user manual for further details. (by PC Helps Staff)

Backing up Your BlackBerry, Just In Case

Before making any significant configuration changes, you will want to make sure that all the data on your device is backed up. In the event of any problems, this will ensure that the data can be restored.

1. Connect your BlackBerry to your computer with a USB cable.
2. Open Desktop Manager and double-click Backup and Restore.
3. Select Backup to perform a full backup, or select Advanced to perform a backup of specific databases.
4. If you are using the Advanced options, select each database you want to back up, and then click the arrow to move it to the list of things to back up.
5. Select a location and file name for the backup data.
6. Click Save.

If you want to perform a periodic automatic backup of your device’s data, you can do that, too:

1. Connect your BlackBerry to your computer with a USB cable.
2. Open Desktop Manager.
3. Double-click Backup and Restore.
4. In the Configuration section, select Options.
5. Check the option “Back up my device automatically every X days.”
6. Type your desired interval in the field.
7. Choose whether you want to back up all device data, or exclude messages and synched data.
8. Click OK.

Note that the backup can occur only when your BlackBerry is connected to the computer, not wirelessly. (by Joel Reeves)

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