Among the tips they received was that IT managers should create a single mobile policy for both corporate and employee-owned devices. Many firms have either no policy or practices that apply only to corporate-owned devices.

Because 's and and devices running the operating system are most preferred by employees, Forrester said progressive IT managers are starting to support both platforms and work around some of their security limitations.

Forrester found that IT managers will deliver only basic services, such as email, contacts and calendar, to Android and Apple's iOS devices because of security concerns. However, the companies plan to allow more functionality as the OSes and the mobile device management software matures. More functionality could include access to corporate apps used for inventory control, for example.

Regarding support for personally owned devices, Forrester said MDM software can help protect a company should it need to wipe data from an employee's phone. But users first need to be aware of the possibility that their data could be wiped from their device. Forrester found that some companies compromise by providing some support of employee-owned devices but then don't allow them to use the devices to connect to company networks.

Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at or subscribe to . His e-mail address is .