The pressure of consumer tools
by James Robertson
In an earlier post, Rob Lancaster writes:
The notion of “consumer” software trying to succeed as “mainstream” enterprise software is certainly not a new one.
Let me take a slightly different angle on this…
One of the most interesting things that I’ve observed is the increasing gap in technology between what people use in their personal lives, and what’s available in their office environment.
At home they are using advanced mobile phones, with photo, video and internet capabilities. They’ve got super-fast broadband, and use this to share files, thoughts and photos. They’re using Myspace and Flickr, and Google Maps. They use a rich set of USB peripherals attached to their computers.
And yet, when they come into the office, they have none of this. Corporate IT won’t even let a single piece of additional software to be installed onto the PC, and access to popular sites is blocked at the firewall. Forget trying to make use of handheld devices (unless it’s a corporately-endorsed Blackberry).
I think it is perhaps this that will create ever-increasing pressure on organisations, and IT departments in particular. Since we’re in a global skills shortage, perhaps we have to create more attractive (and more modern!) environments for people to work in. Environments that at least match what they use at home…
