Friday, November 18, 2011

The Friday Special: I Can't be Left to My Own Devices?

Wall Street Journal article from a couple of days ago explored the issue of allowing workers to use their personal computing devices in the workplace.

On the surface, this is a great idea and I agree with it, but until recently I worked at a large company where, for security/regulatory and just common sense reasons, personal devices were prohibited and everything was locked down to a fare-thee-well. In that type of environment, restricting equipment and software options seems to be the best overall approach. The benefits of restriction outweigh the potentially business-crippling risks of openess.

Also, and maybe more importantly, from my years of being an electronic troubleshooter and repairman for friends, family and co-workers, its clear to me that the average user/worker isn't equipped -- pardon the pun -- to handle the job of selecting equipment and software for use in the workplace. (... and don't get me started about the average person's computer usage habits.)

Now, after having said all of the above, what about those of us who are tech-savvy enough and responsible enough to better handle many of these things?

In a perfect world and workplace, we should be allowed to use the equipment and software of our own choice. Unfortunately, perfection ain't around us and won't be walkin' through the door anytime soon.



This post was written on my TouchPad


Follow me on Twitter... @rnolan1087

No comments:

Post a Comment