Wearable technology has left the realm of science fiction and landed squarely in the real world. This Spiceworks white paper, based on a recent survey of IT pros, looks at barriers and benefits to adoption of wearables in the workplace. To learn more, visit http://smbz.us/1bbIhQv

1. - Samsung Tablet Photo -
Get Ready for
Wearables at Work
Survey of IT pros reveals drivers, benefits, and
challenges of supporting wearables in the workforce

2. G E T R E A D Y F O R W E A R A B L E S A T W O R K // 1
Introduction 2
The move to wearables is on 3
Being prepared for the challenges 5
Wearables at work: Real-world use cases 7
Leading the way in wearables with Samsung Gear 9
About Samsung 9
About the survey 10
Table of contents

3. G E T R E A D Y F O R W E A R A B L E S A T W O R K // 2
Wearable technology has decidedly left the
realm of science fiction and landed squarely
in the real world, where people are wearing
wristbands that track their fitness activities,
watches that do everything smartphones
do, and eyewear that displays videos, maps,
and more. And now the focus is shifting from
consumer applications to business ones,
where industry observers are predicting
profound improvements in productivity and
efficiency, as well as other benefits, for the
organizations that support them.1
Wearables are already starting to make
inroads among some enterprise-size
companies.2
But is the work world at large
ready for wearables? What are the factors
that will drive – or discourage – their
widespread adoption? What about the
challenges associated with introducing
wearables at work? In a recent Spiceworks
survey of 187 IT pros in the U.S., they talk
about business use of wearables, their views
on the barriers and benefits to adoption, and
use cases – both actual and anticipated – for
their organizations.
This white paper shares key findings
from the survey as well as other relevant
information to help organizations make
the most of wearables in their work
environments. The benefits are undeniably
powerful, and the key to reaping them is
being informed and prepared.
Introduction
Wearables are already
starting to make inroads
among some enterprise-
size companies
- Tech.pinions
!

4. G E T R E A D Y F O R W E A R A B L E S A T W O R K // 3
According to the survey, while the
overwhelming majority of organizations
(94%) are not currently supporting wearables,
more than one third are planning to do so in
the next 12 months. This tracks with other
reports of growing adoption rates for tablets.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), for example,
projects an adoption rate in the U.S. that will
match that of tablets in 2012.4
And Fortune
magazine recently predicted that adoption of
wearables at work would outpace consumer
adoption, based on research by Harris
Interactive.5
The move to wearables is on
38%
Likelihood of supporting wearables
Within the next 12 months
Are likely to support wearables in
the next 12 months
1%Extremely likely
1%Very likely
3%Somewhat likely
33%Likely
52%Not at all likely
10%Don’t know

5. G E T R E A D Y F O R W E A R A B L E S A T W O R K // 4
T H E M O V E T O W E A R A B L E S I S O N
What’s driving adoption? The overwhelming
factor is employee demand, cited by the
majority of respondents that already support
wearables.
And what benefits have organizations
experienced (or, if they don’t support
wearables yet, what benefits do they
expect to experience) from supporting
wearables? The top three responses –
hands-free functionality (37%), enhanced
communication/collaboration (33%), and
enhanced mobility (32%) can be seen as
interrelated. As Brent Lang points out in
a Wired blogpost: “From hotels to nuclear
energy plants to hospitals, highly mobile
workers in these fast-paced environments
are using wearable communication devices
to intelligently connect and collaborate with
each other.” He also notes that these are
“…the devices that don’t get in the way of
doing work, which often leads to a desire for
hands-free wearable devices.”6
The benefits of supporting wearables
Hands-free functionality 37%
Enhanced communications/collaboration 33%
100%
Enhanced mobility 32%
Increased productivity 25%
Increased efficiency 23%
Increased accuracy 19%
Improved end-user experience 18%
Improved customer experience/customer care 12%
Increased availability 12%
Simplified management 7%
Reduced costs 2%
Innovation 2%
Reduced hardware requirements 2%
Other 3%
None 18%
Don’t know 17%
50%

6. G E T R E A D Y F O R W E A R A B L E S A T W O R K // 5
While surveyed organizations recognized a
variety of benefits from supporting wearables,
they also associated a number of challenges
with wearables. Forty-nine percent identified
loss or theft of devices as the greatest
challenge they experienced or would
expect to experience with wearables. Other
top challenges included end-user policy
enforcement and security compliance/
requirements (both 35%).
Being prepared for the challenges
Challenges of wearable support
Lost or stolen devices 49%
Enforcement of end-user policies 35%
100%
Security compliance/requirements 35%
Increased costs 32%
Increased help desk calls/support time 32%
Security breaches/threats 30%
Ownership of personal data 25%
Software/app compatibility 24%
Increased mgmt. complexity 25%
Device control 21%
Device quality/reliability 21%
Bandwidth 9%
API security 8%
Increased device volume 7%
Other 5%
None 3%
Don’t know 7%
50%

7. G E T R E A D Y F O R W E A R A B L E S A T W O R K // 6
B E I N G P R E P A R E D F O R T H E C H A L L E N G E S
For organizations that don’t support
wearables but are considering support, the
question is whether the benefits outweigh
the challenges. There’s a strong argument
to be made that they do – if organizations
are prepared to take steps to address the
challenges successfully. As Steven Bjarnason,
a certified information systems security
professional stated in BusinessNewsDaily,
“It’s a question of asking if your company
wants to embrace [wearable technology] as
a natural order of things without a plan, or
understand in advance what the implications
and costs are so that it can adequately deal
with the security, safety, and privacy issues
this technology potentially imparts.”7
Evaluating the security of devices is an
important first step. Choosing wearables that
can be locked, for example, will ensure that
unauthorized users can’t access their data
in the event of loss or theft. And engaging
employees in preparation of supporting
wearables is critical; it’s a good idea to train
employees to both maximize the usefulness
and mitigate the dangers of wearables.8
Employee education is also key to addressing
one of the other major challenges
surveyed IT pros identified: end-user policy
enforcement. Security expert Stephen Brown
says that “…organizations need to educate
their employees and create a culture of
accountability so that they respect corporate
policy.”9
Evaluating the security of
devices is an important
first step in supporting
wearables in the
workplace.
!

8. G E T R E A D Y F O R W E A R A B L E S A T W O R K // 7
When asked about use cases in their own
environments, 45% of survey respondents
said they would use (or were already using)
wearables to enable mobile communication/
collaboration. Thirty-seven percent use them
to collect real-time data/information, and
35% use them to run mobile/hands-free
applications.
Wearables at work: Real-world use cases
Wearable use cases
To
enable
m
obile
com
m
unication/collaboration
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
45%
To
collectreal-tim
e
data/
inform
ation
37%
To
run
m
obile/hands-free
apps
35%
To
track
tim
e/billable
hours
25%
To
m
anage
ortrack
workforce
25%
Other
None
Don’tknow
6%
19%
10%

9. G E T R E A D Y F O R W E A R A B L E S A T W O R K // 8
W E A R A B L E S A T W O R K : R E A L - W O R L D U S E C A S E S
A smartwatch is a great example of how
these use cases can play out. Organizations
of all kinds can use smartwatches for
mobile communication among employees
– especially with employees on the road,
who can get timely information from a
smartwatch when it’s not advisable to use
a smartphone (for example, while driving).
More specifically, healthcare organizations
can expect to see smartwatches impacting
medicine, from patients wearing them
for hands-free monitoring of vital signs
to healthcare workers using them to get
valuable data while their hands are busy
working on patients.
The survey also touched on using wearables
as part of employee wellness programs.
Twenty-six percent of respondents in the
survey indicated their organizations offered
wellness programs that reimburse employees
for wellness items such as wearable devices.
This is an area where smartwatches offer a
clear advantage over other types of mobile
devices. As one technology writer puts it,
“With a smartwatch you could glance at your
wrist [to get statistics], and it can save battery
power because you’ll get the data on your
watch instead of having to use a lot of energy
to light up your phone’s screen.”10
Organizations of all kinds
can use smartwatches for
mobile communication
among employees–
especially employees
on the road...
!

10. G E T R E A D Y F O R W E A R A B L E S A T W O R K // 9
Samsung is a leader in wearables for the
workplace. Its Samsung Gear watches, from
the Gear Fit for tracking fitness data to the
network-connected Gear S™, made up more
than 70% of the smartwatch market in the
first quarter of 2014.11
Gear S™ benefits
for business users include 3G network
connectivity with the ability to call, text, email,
or use GPS even while away from a phone,
as well as an always-on two-inch display with
plenty of room for reading notifications,
viewing pictures, and responding to emails.
Samsung: Leading the way in wearables
with Samsung Gear
As a global leader in enterprise mobility and information technology, Samsung Business provides
a diverse portfolio of enterprise technologies including smartphones, wearables, tablets, digital
displays, hospitality TVs, printers and medical diagnostic equipment. We are committed to putting
the business customer at the core of everything we do by delivering comprehensive products,
solutions and services across diverse industries including retail, healthcare, hospitality, education
and government. For more information, please visit samsung.com/business or follow Samsung
Business via Twitter @SamsungBizUSA.
About Samsung Business

11. G E T R E A D Y F O R W E A R A B L E S A T W O R K // 10
SamsungcommissionedSpiceworks toconduct anonlinesurvey inOctober 2014toprofilecurrent
wearablebusinesspracticesandusecases, aswellastoidentify benefitsofandbarrierstowearable
useintheworkplace.Atotalof187interviewswerecollectedfrom ITprosintheU.S. Halfofthe
respondentscamefromcompanieswithfewer than100employees. Another 35% camefrom
companieswith100to499employees, and15% camefrom companieswith500or moreemployees.
About the survey
Sources
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will-lead-the-way-for-tablet-growth/
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able-future.pdf
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7
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leenterprise.edgl.com/tech-spotlight/Securing-the-New-Device-on-the-Block96629
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love-the-samsung-galaxy-gear-smartwatch/
11
“Samsung dominates as smartwatch market doubles in size,” CNET, May 2014. http://www.
cnet.com/news/samsung-dominates-as-smartwatch-market-doubles-in-size/