IT Management Slideshow: Consumerization of IT: U.S. Firms Lag in Global Trend

For quite some time now, some of the brightest minds in academia and IT leadership have been advocating and evangelizing the value of enterprises incorporating consumer IT into their operations. Now, the "Consumerization of IT" has undoubtedly taken hold. But, exactly where it's happening most might surprise you. And CIOs who have resisted the "bring your own technology" movement need to pay close attention. For "The Promise of Consumer Technologies in Emerging Markets," a September 2011 report from the Accenture Institute for High Performance, authors Jeanne G. Harris and Iris Junglas surveyed more than 4,000 IT employees in 16 countries to gauge where ubiquitous personal tech tools are permeating the enterprise. Turns out the iPads, iPhones, and Android smartphones, as well as popular Web apps such as YouTube and Skype, are most abundantly utilized in emerging markets. Sure, Asia has always been seen as a pioneer in mobile technology usage, but countries such as China, India and Singapore have run with that ethic-and left developed nations in their dust. Western IT leaders may learn some valuable lessons from these findings from Accenture's study.