After Hours

Welcome to After Hours, the Rank + File weblog covering the consumerization of enterprise IT.

Rank + File offers essential intelligence for CIOs and IT leaders on the technology their users bring inside the organization, by hook or by crook.

  1. Uppity employees turning noses up at perfectly adequate technology… and jobs.

    We’ve been chatting a bit on Twitter about how consumerization has become an HR issue.

    Last week CIO.com had a provocative feature, Employees Refusing to Use Clunky Enterprise Software. In addition to the usual tales of rogue iPads and DIY remote access, there were two interesting bits that flew under the radar- the survey showed that unfavorable technology was both a reason to leave a job, and a reason to not take a job in the first place.

    …the survey shows that managers are less likely to take a job at a new company if they can’t use cloud-based apps and connect their personal devices to the new company’s enterprise systems. Further, one-third to two-thirds of the managers (the number is higher among younger managers) say that they’re likely to change jobs if their employer’s corporate software is too difficult to use.

    With start-ups already courting fought-after engineering talent with “any kind of computer you want,” how long before HR follows, becoming another silo knocking on enterprise IT’s door with an agenda of their own?

  2. New event: Consumerization of IT in the Enterprise, March 2012

    March 2012 brings the debut of the Consumerization of IT in the Enterprise (CITE) conference and expo in San Francisco, California.

    Managed by IDG, and sponsored by Cisco and Citrix, the event will likely be a bit more staid and devoted to things bureaucratic. (The example agenda previews sessions on governance, asset lifecycle, risk management.) But it makes for an interesting compliment to Box.net’s lively Boxworks conference, and the long-running Enterprise 2.0 series of events.

    You’re encouraged to submit a speaking proposal to CITE by November 18th, 2011.

  3. "We often hear from folks inside these companies. They’re beyond frustrated with the software/solutions they’re supposed to use. So they turn to our products because they just plain work. Sometimes they expense them, but often it seems a team or department head just pays out of their own pocket. The cost is insignificant compared to the productivity they receive in return. We salute these insurgents!"
    Sneaking into the Fortune 500 through the back door. Where 37 Signals tracks the rogue use of their software in large enterprises- without the buy-in of large enterprise IT. - (37signals)
  4. Is anyone unfamiliar with the paranoid second-guessing induced by unanswered SMS texts? Put minds at ease with an automated out-of-office reply on your Android. A note: It’s called out-of-office reply, an unabashed acknowledgement that business is being conducted here. thenextweb: (via Auto SMS: An out-of-office reply for your Android phone - TNW Apps)

    Is anyone unfamiliar with the paranoid second-guessing induced by unanswered SMS texts?

    Put minds at ease with an automated out-of-office reply on your Android.

    A note: It’s called out-of-office reply, an unabashed acknowledgement that business is being conducted here.

    thenextweb:

    (via Auto SMS: An out-of-office reply for your Android phone - TNW Apps)

  5. Gartner hype cycles are a combination of validating and frustrating. Gartner’s own data has documented consumerization in Fortune 500 company enterprise IT departments for years now. So one winces when mainstream adoption of consumerization is charted to occur in “5-10 years.” On the other hand, Gartner isn’t necessarily known for being quick to identify technology trends, so when something is on their radar, it’s safe to say it’s well-entrenched. futuramb: Gartner publish new hype cycle with the additions of e g gamification and consumerization. I agree with their analysis of both gamification, which recently has entered the plateau of inflated expections, and consumerization which they didn’t seem to detect beforehand and placed at the slope of enlightenment. To me, who rather see the world i S-curves, the consumerization analysis is the most interesting since it also suggest that it is starting to have a real world effect and we are starting to realize that it really has. IT-departments are on their way to be consumerization’s first road kill followed by a long row of institutions who provide systems top-down. (via Gartner Adds Big Data, Gamification, and Internet of Things to Its Hype Cycle)

    Gartner hype cycles are a combination of validating and frustrating. Gartner’s own data has documented consumerization in Fortune 500 company enterprise IT departments for years now. So one winces when mainstream adoption of consumerization is charted to occur in “5-10 years.”

    On the other hand, Gartner isn’t necessarily known for being quick to identify technology trends, so when something is on their radar, it’s safe to say it’s well-entrenched.

    futuramb:

    Gartner publish new hype cycle with the additions of e g gamification and consumerization. I agree with their analysis of both gamification, which recently has entered the plateau of inflated expections, and consumerization which they didn’t seem to detect beforehand and placed at the slope of enlightenment.

    To me, who rather see the world i S-curves, the consumerization analysis is the most interesting since it also suggest that it is starting to have a real world effect and we are starting to realize that it really has. IT-departments are on their way to be consumerization’s first road kill followed by a long row of institutions who provide systems top-down.

    (via Gartner Adds Big Data, Gamification, and Internet of Things to Its Hype Cycle)

  6. "If you fight consumerization, it just goes underground and you’ll actually be in a worse situation…
    Prisoners are some of the most creative people that I can think of…
    If you make your users prisoners, they will get real creative about working around you.
    So, embrace these technologies…"
    /via Trend Micro/ Gartner interview transcript on BringYourOwnIt.

  7. Wily correspondents: your days are numbered. Google Apps enables email receipts.

    Read receipts allow senders to monitor the status of the messages they send and allow recipients to acknowledge receipt of mail.

    Opinion has long been mixed on email receipts. Overt aggression on behalf the sender? A necessary evil for evasive recipients?

    Most use receipts only as last resort when communicating with poor correspondents or as pseudo-legal documentation tool. In any case, they are a staple of enterprise culture. Long enabled in Microsoft Exchange/Outlook environments, Google has brought them to Google Apps.

    Email read receipts must be enabled by an organization’s domain administrator before users can access the feature.

  8. Can you be an enterprise-only device-maker?

    Jean-Louis Gassée says no in this HP WebOS thought piece:

    “The consumerization of IT renders the “enterprise-only” pivot null and void. In this new world, Google and Apple wage an ecosystem war: devices + apps + distribution. Add marketing, if you want, but Word Of Mouth is still more potent than ad dollars. Or merely reinforces it.”

  9. Microsoft battles Google Apps campus popularity with some creative licensing

    As of June 2011, more than 12 million students use Google Apps for Education.

    Google provides its premium Google Apps service for free to schools, so it’s tough out there for a Microsoft enterprise sales team courting the next generation.

    parislemon:

    Microsoft Pays University of Nebraska To Use Office 365

    When you can’t beat em (Google Apps in the Cloud), don’t even try. Pay people to use your service instead. 

    No, it’s not straight-up cash. But it’s still hundreds of thousands of dollars in incentives such as other Microsoft software. Money that would otherwise be revenue from the University of Nebraska to Microsoft. So yes, they are paying them. 

  10. The White House is not immune to IT consumerization angst. technipol: President Obama complains White House technology is ‘30 years behind’ “President Obama may be content using a slightly outdated (though admittedly secure) BlackBerry while on the go, but it seems that he’s far more disappointed in the technology at the White House itself. Speaking at a fundraiser in Chicago this week, Obama said that “when it comes to technology, we are like 30 years behind,” and he’s not just just talking about some ancient Windows desktops left over from the previous administration in the West Wing. He went on to complain about the lack of “really cool phones and stuff,” saying, “I’m the president of the United States. Where’s the fancy buttons and stuff and the big screen comes up? It doesn’t happen.” Maybe he can get some of his new tech industry friends to help him out with that if manages to settle in for a second term.” [Engadget]

    The White House is not immune to IT consumerization angst.

    technipol:

    President Obama complains White House technology is ‘30 years behind’

    “President Obama may be content using a slightly outdated (though admittedly secure) BlackBerry while on the go, but it seems that he’s far more disappointed in the technology at the White House itself. Speaking at a fundraiser in Chicago this week, Obama said that “when it comes to technology, we are like 30 years behind,” and he’s not just just talking about some ancient Windows desktops left over from the previous administration in the West Wing. He went on to complain about the lack of “really cool phones and stuff,” saying, “I’m the president of the United States. Where’s the fancy buttons and stuff and the big screen comes up? It doesn’t happen.” Maybe he can get some of his new tech industry friends to help him out with that if manages to settle in for a second term.” [Engadget]

    (via villagevoice)

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