Critical.
Authoritative.
Strategic.
Subscribe to CIO Magazine »

Digital Subversives

Employees just suck, don't they? It's bad enough that they don't read the documentation, follow the rules or make even a minimal effort to get the most they can out of internal IT systems
Page:

Are employees compromising security by bringing consumer tech into the enterprise? Perhaps, but if you use too heavy a hand to stop them, you'll be fighting a losing battle

"Power users" can be demanding pains in the butt. And tech-savvy managers may be relentless thorns in your side. But the employees with the greatest potential to make your enterprise life a seething hell of killer viruses, data loss, network disruptions, compromised security and contempt for your professional competence are the "ordinary" folks who think their technologies belong on your network. They care not that Skype is a terrific vector for viruses or that a MySpace account will prove to be an information sieve or that making the company's uber-customized "sales-force automation" system run on their BlackBerrys will take months of programming.

They don't think twice about using 1-gig memory sticks to back up customer data and then losing the sticks on a trip. Maybe, in the interests of good supplier or customer relationships they'll put a behind-the-firewall link on del.icio.us to help answer a question or two - and then call your people screaming that you've made them look bad because it's inaccessible.

Employees just suck, don't they? It's bad enough that they don't read the documentation, follow the rules or make even a minimal effort to get the most they can out of internal IT systems. Now they're bringing every consumer electronics gizmo they've purchased, Web site they've accessed and IM account they've set up into the enterprise, and they expect you to support them. Just what do they think they're doing?

The answer to that question is the reason the surging challenge of consumer technologies will get worse before it gets better and why the problem can - at best - be managed and not solved.

An emerging majority of employees honestly believe that the technology they use outside the organization is superior to the technology they use inside the enterprise. They feel they're getting a swifter and more valuable user experience interacting with eBay than with your supply chain software; Google's better than your DBMS; Skype beats your phone system; and AOL wins because you don't allow IM or "buddy lists".

What's more, the savvier employees with teenagers look at MySpace and Facebook and wonder why IT isn't adapting those kinds of social networking genres for project management and hiring systems. They wonder why they get better, faster, cheaper or free software services outside the firewall. They think you're too slow, cautious, unmotivated. They think you suck. If they like you, they simply think you're too busy.

So that's their excuse for bringing external technologies and services into the enterprise: You can't and/or you won't.

Further complicating this dynamic is the reality that most of your better employees now take their work home and on the road. Companies have (successfully) used IT to both blur and dissolve the lines between the office and the home. Well, two can play at that game. Employees once dependent on enterprise software to finish a project over the weekend now want to be able to integrate software and services from Web sites you might not like or trust. Too bad for you.

Historically, IT's response to technical insubordination is prohibition: Employees are forbidden from using Skype, IM, personal e-mail accounts and so on. I remember that in the 1980s, more than a few Fortune 500 IT shops didn't allow personal computers. In the 1990s, corporate IT tried to stamp out unauthorized local networks that various workgroups had set up for themselves because IT hadn't got around to supporting them. No wonder IT got a reputation as "user hostile".

Page:

Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.

More about: AOL, Brother, Consumer Electronics, eBay, Exposure, Gizmo, Google, MIT, MIT Media Lab, Skype

Comments

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Users posting comments agree to the CIO comments policy.
Login or register to link comments to your user profile, or you may also post a comment without being logged in.
Related Whitepapers
Latest Stories
Community Comments
Latest Blog Posts
Whitepapers
  • Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Disk-Based Backup/Recovery
    While backup is among the oldest, most performed tasks in the data center, the industry is undergoing significant change as organisations accelerate new technology adoption and show a propensity to implement new solutions, in some cases from vendors that are emerging or new to the backup market.
    Learn more »
  • Miercom Report - Plug and Play Switches
    Avaya engaged Miercom to evaluate the plug and play features and ease of configuration of the ERS 4548GT- PWR Edge Switch. The energy efficiency of the ERS was compared to similar switches and is discussed in this report as well. Read on.
    Learn more »
  • Oracle Exadata Database Machine Warehouse Architectural Comparisons
    Exadata is Oracle’s fastest growing new product. Much of the growth of Exadata has come at the expense of specialized data warehouse appliance vendors. These vendors have published competitive comparisons to Exadata, claiming: Architecture is what really matters for performance, Purpose-built data warehousing architectures perform best, They see architecture as an end in itself rather than as a means to an end. Read on.
    Learn more »
All whitepapers
rhs_login_lockGet exclusive access to Invitation only events CIO, reports & analysis.
Recent comments