This week I have been involved in discussion about consumerisation and it’s effects on corporate computing. The interesting thing for me here is that IT professionals see a difference between consumer equipment and corporate equipment when in computing terms no such difference exists. The same computer that powers my sons obsession with computer games can happily deliver CAD drawings. His mobile phone is just as capable of taking phone calls and emails as any corporate Blackberry. In short consumer equipment can deliver corporate outputs (although not always the other way around particularly in the case of games).
There is really only one thing that forces us to draw the distinction and that is restrictions around the accessibility of the data that is on the devices. It is important to corporates that some data is protected, sometimes to an extreme degree as there can be penalties for leeking this data. This need not be legal penalties but can also be loss of reputation or just financial loss. IT departments are very aware of this an are tasked to prevent it and thus see corporate computing as different.
Consider though that it is actually important to consumers to protect some of their data too, sometimes also to an extreme degree. Penalties for leeking this data can be the same, loss of reputation or financial etc. The real difference is many consumers simply do not understand this whether applied to computing or indeed just ordinary life. I am reminded of the time Jeremy Clarkson printed his bank account number in his news paper column because he did not believe anyone could abuse it. Someone used this to make a donation from his account to charity and he soon realised the error of his ways.
So if both consumers and corporates benefit from the security why is it not inherent in all devices? Well the answer here is that it is starting to happen, I would argue that the iPhone/iPad environment is equivalent if not better than an average corporate computing environment. The devices are locked down, only run applications from an approved source and data on them can be protected and wiped if necessary etc.
The iDevice model is very much an old world device and application model as we are used to but there is also the Cloud computing model. Googles chromebook uses the cloud model to deliver services, which are arguably more secure than many business systems, and protects its hardware by keeping two copies of the firmware and checking one against the other to prevent keyloggers etc. from getting a foot hold.
Microsoft are not going to be locked out of this either though and their forthcoming Windows 8 will make use of an application store and provide similar features to it’s competition.
All of this confirms that the world of corporate computing and the world of consumer computing will inevitably come closer until there is no difference between the two. It will become as normal to have a computer allowance as it has been to have a car allowance, and combined with Cloud computing this will significantly change the current world of the corporate IT professional.
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