Consumer IT In The Work Place
The Past was a Different Place
In the old world of IT, the IT department would provide a few different models of devices that were allowed to connect to the corporate infrastructure, these were purchased, maintained and supported by the company, and that tended to be the way it was…Times have changed.
It certainly didn’t all start with the iPad or the iPhone, but there has been a marked increase in the number of consumer IT products that staff want to use for business, and this quickly evolves to questions like “Why can’t I get my corporate emails on my ?” and “How do I access this from my ”
You have your Pros and you have your Cons
From an IT director and CIO’s perspective, it is can be troublesome to accept lots of different devices on to the corporate infrastructure, some of the key issues are:
Security
Laptops, desktops and Citrix clients are easy to lock down and control. Consumer devices come from a very different world where the user wants to be able to try a new app that has full access to all of their contact information, and then if they want to delete it 10 minutes, so be it.
As a CIO you have to help ensure that sensitive information and systems aren’t made vulnerable by devices and the software that they run when they are connected to the corporate infrastructure.
Loss
What happens when a device is left on a train, or in an airport, or stolen? Consumer devices are increasingly able to shutdown remotely, but not all of them, and not in a consistent way. One of the features that made BlackBerry devices such a hit with corporate IT was their ability to be locked, and wiped remotely.
Support
How does an IT department support a plethora of devices? Support and ensuring staff of able to use their hardware productively is a key part of most IT departments, and the thought of having to support every flavour or android phone, iPhone or tablet on the market offers a not insignificant challenge.
Bring your own device Programmes
A trend that is beginning to gain some traction is to grant staff a budget to purchase, support and maintain their own equipment (sometimes just mobile phones, others include laptops as well), this doesn’t only offer benefits to those employees who want such control, but the corporation too, typically by reducing the costs of support, administration of replacement programmes and mobile phone contracts. This still requires an IT environment that allows the connection of a variety of devices though, and depending on the level of integration being permitted, a level of support.
Of course there are variations in such any such programme, perhaps employees are given the opportunity to chose from a variety of devices that they then receive more support than would be practical with a completely open policy for example.
Set the Boundaries and Give Guidance
If your organisation is considering any kind of consumer IT adoption, it is important that your infrastructure and systems can support the devices to the level required. Staff need to understand the level of support they will receive, their responsibilities and what they’re allowed to do with their shinny gadget. Having robust IT policy, procedures and service definitions are the perfect mechanism for this. We recommend making sure that at least the following are covered:
Which devices are authorised for connection to corporate networks
Which devices are recommended for different roles (remember many staff just want a way to access their email, prepare documents and presentations, and don’t know enough to make their own decision)
The levels of support provided for each device
The budget and mechanism for obtaining authorisation
The services that devices can connect to
The software requirements (who is responsible for providing the preferred version of word processing and spreadsheet software for example)
Security and malware requirements
What to do if the device is lost or stolen (including how the device is wiped or locked)
What happens when the employee joins or leaves the organisation
Desktop Virtualisation?
One approach that suits an increasing number of organisations is to implement a virtualised desktop environment. Depending on the organisation, this could cover the entire user base, just “bring your own” users, just those who work from home or remote locations, or any other split or combination that suits your business needs.
A virtualised desktop environment enables users to have full desktop power on a thin client device (their own laptop, iPad or Android tablet for example), allowing full access whilst being able to ring fence the corporate systems and data.
Some aspects to consider and prepare for, when implementing a Desktop Virtualisation solution:
A good business case stating the business objectives, benefits and success factors, anticipated costs
The recommended size of the screen for devices, (consider the frequency of use and the applications to be used in this recommendation)
Staff will require user training if switching from mouse to touch (particularly when using a virtual desktop)
Which devices support which your chosen Virtualised Desktop solution (if implementing a new solution, look at both Citrix Xendesktop and Microsoft Desktop Virtualization)
If you would like to learn how Fifth Step can help your business investigate or implement a consumer IT or Virtualised Desktop programme, or help you add value to your business in other ways, please contact us or visit www.fifthstep.com.