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Email ForresterIt's not about Google vs Apple vs Microsoft - it's about freedom
How can we offer people freedom of choice in personal computer without spending more on management and support?
Published 11:44, 31 August 11
We are learning once again that what people want most is to be
free
John Quincy Adams (sixth President of the US) said: "Who
but shall learn that freedom is the prize…and on the oppressor's head to break
the chain." Glorious change. Monumental change. Empowerment and Freedom. I
submit humbly but with absolute conviction to all of you that we are in the
midst of revolution in personal computing - the extent of which we will only
fully comprehend once it's over, and established vendors and IT leaders alike
are scattered on the side of the road.
It's not about Microsoft vs Apple or Google vs Apple. It's about freedom. Freedom from control. Freedom from establishments. Freedom of identity. Freedom from IT departments too understaffed and ill-equipped to help. Freedom from layers of management agents and miscellaneous junk that sap minutes to hours of productive time from our lives every day. The price of compliance and security you say? Hogwash.
End user experience is at an all-time low
The end user
experience has deteriorated to the point that we sit and wait while the
hourglass spins, as IT's remote bots take inventory, or install software updates
while we're frantically trying to get our slides together for a customer
meeting. The mindless bots scan for threats and lock the cursor while we're
trying to write an email, and we get embarrassing pop-up reminders while we're
presenting to rooms full of people to make sure we know to update Adobe Acrobat.
We're as mad as hell, and we're not going to take it any more! Who gave someone
the right to assume that what their tool needs to do at any given moment is more
important than the work we have to get done?
High performers are being hanged for taking matters into their own
hands
Our workspaces don't belong to us any more, so more and more
of us are choosing to go it alone and risk the wrath. One of the brightest
people I know was fired from a company recently because his IT department
determined he was violating security policy by using his personal computer in
the office rather than the one IT provided. The one IT provided was too
underpowered for his job, so he had purchased one (with his own money) that
would work. In any rational situation, he might have been rewarded for his
commitment. Instead, he was dismissed, and his former employer's top competitor
snapped him up in less than 2 weeks -- this guy had closed $3M in business last
year. It's lunacy! I go back to John Quincy Adams again: "To believe all men
honest would be folly. To believe none so is something worse." Perhaps this
thinking has something to offer us.
It doesn't have to be like this
So what do we as I&O
professionals do? We can start by embracing the idea that less is more, and that
the best way to shape behavior is to create value where you want people to go.
As you are developing your support plans for virtual desktops and mobile
devices, and you think "how will we control…", stop yourself. Think
instead about how you will make it easier for people to adopt these
devices without breaking the regulations your business is sworn to uphold. The
client virtualisation mobile apps from Citrix and VMware are a great help here,
and the LogMeIn client for remote control of any desktop is the best I've seen.
Think in terms of automated configuration for email on iOS and Android to ease
the burden on the user and the service desk. Make sure both e-mail addresses AND
phone numbers are in Exchange so that everyone in the firm using a mobile device
can call any other employee.
New technologies must be allowed to unleash new levels of
productivity and value
For virtual desktops, try to figure out how
to manage them without the same layers of agents you used on the physical
desktops. I saw some interesting technology from a company called Ziften this
week that looks promising because it controls how much CPU, memory and I/O
extraneous "stuff" can consume. Think about offering service catalogs full of
pre-configured virtual desktops that people can request and use for specific
purposes. Imagine a graphics design workstation offering with all the trimmings,
or an engineering workstation designed by the finest engineers in your
organisation. These kinds of ideas will create value that really leverages what
these technologies can offer your business, and people will go where they see
value for them.
What do you think? What are some great ways to strike a better balance between information security and usability? How can we offer people freedom of choice in personal computing without spending more on management and support? If you are doing this today, what tools are indispensible to you?
Posted by David Johnson
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