Zen or control?

Why do enterprise IT departments prefer central control of their networks versus allowing the consumerization of those networks? Why do IT policies generally restrict or prohibit consumer technologies from the corporate network?

A recent Yankee Group study suggests this is the wrong approach and that a more "Zen-like" process of allowing all sorts of consumer technology into the LAN is both easier for the IT department to manage and more productive to the company, as well. But is it realistic? Do IT directors, for example, really want employees downloading Skype onto their corporate computers?

In "Zen and the Art of Rogue Employee Management," Yankee Group analysts surveyed end-users only, not IT executives, and found, surprise, that those end-users favor bringing their consumer gadgets and software into the business network. "Employees feel empowered to introduce consumer services into the workplace, and they are making liberal use of the opportunity," says the report. But asking only end-users and not management is like asking a six-year-old if he wants all iPod without asking the parents if they think such a purchase is wise.

The Zen study also states that the consumerization trend is in its infancy. Not true. IT departments have been struggling with this phenomenon for many years-with the PC, then laptops, then cell phones, and now PDAs and smart phones.

Organizations have a great deal invested in their IT networks. Most are just now getting their arms around the network security, monster that has taken up much of their budgets and staff time over the past five years. And now they're dealing with performance issues related to new applications and today's more distributed enterprise. IT directors, protective of what they have already installed, are understandably wary of adding new devices and applications that may jeopardize what they have built.

Yankee Group suggests, in its Zen model, that network control can be ceded to end-users via what it calls an "internal customer care cooperative model ... it doesn't seek to dictate policy and enforce standards, but rather set guidelines and steer users in the 'right' direction." In other words, tell employees what is allowed and let them police themselves.

Social networking tools, such as wikis, blogs and tagging, would ostensibly harness the collective intelligence of the organization to improve IT support. That may work in an IT organization, where the relative technical knowledge of employees would be relatively high, but I'm not sure what intelligent technical input many employees at most organizations can offer. Many just want to know why their e-mail is down.

Consumerization of corporate IT networks might always be a challenge to those who maintain the systems, but just like the process of integrating laptops and cell phones into the network, organizations are treading slowly. They first want to know that whatever entry is granted does not cause unnecessary security and performance problems on their valuable IT assets.

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