Within the last five years, internal and external IT support professionals across the country have witnessed a new trend: the consumerization of IT. And, it is no coincidence that this trend surfaced just as tablets, notebooks, and smarter smart phones became everyone’s must-haves. But, what is it? In plain-speak, the consumerization of IT is the name industry experts have applied to the phenomenon in which consumers buy tech toys, like iPads, and then bring these technology platforms to their workplaces and demand that IT departments integrate the devices with company networks and support them.
So, who has the final say? The high-ranking official who walks into the IT department confident that this new device will make him/her more productive? Or, the IT department professionals whose job it is to contain technology scatter and maintain data integrity and security? The answer can be found by considering the following:
- Culture of the Organization: Is your organization comprised of technophiles? Are you trying to attract a younger employee base?
- Sensitivity of Data: Are you a HIPAA or Sarbanes-Oxley compliant organization that exchanges sensitive data in every email? Or is your data regularly available for public consumption?
- IT Resources: Do you have the internal or external IT resources to support the consumerization of IT? Will your training budget allow for new platform education? Or is your IT department a one-person shop?
After evaluating these three things, an organization-wide decision must be made. Will employees be allowed to bring in devices they have personally bought for organizational IT support and work purposes? If so, which of the popular consumer platforms/devices is your organization willing to support? Before making your decision, consider that supporting multiple IT platforms is associated with both increased IT costs and security vulnerabilities. Oppositely, the fewer IT platforms your organization supports, the more predictable your IT costs and security levels.
But that doesn’t mean that the business community should only use Blackberrys forever. In fact, we encourage clients to make their decisions based on their business needs. What would adding iPhone support do for the organization? If, strategically speaking, the answer is nothing, then there is probably no need to start supporting that device. Oppositely, if almost everyone in the organization has an iPad and uses them to portably check and respond to emails at lunch, then incorporating iPad support could increase productivity across the organization.
Last Word
The proliferation of technological devices shows no sign of stopping and that makes the consumerization of IT a very real problem, or advantage, that organizations must consider. In addition to weighing security risks and IT resource bandwidth, be sure to make your decision on supporting or denying the consumerization of IT from a business perspective. There is a broad middle ground to this issue and organizations must decide where, on the continuum, they stand. Perhaps more importantly, once your corporate stance on this trend has been established, create a set of IT policies that reflects your decision and protects your organization—and its data.
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