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. (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })();

[rankandfile-blog]

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?

[rankandfile-blog]

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

March 4-6 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. [deadline passed]

Update: A complete schedule can be found here.

[rankandfile-blog]

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)

[theatlantic]

[rankandfile-blog]

A generation of 1099 independents, as opposed to W2 permanents, by definition is a Bring Your Own Computer (BYOC) workforce.

These workers are buying computers individually, not negotiating 10000 seat contracts with Microsoft and Dell.

theatlantic:

The Freelance Surge Is the Industrial Revolution of Our Time

It’s been called the Gig Economy, Freelance Nation, the Rise of the Creative Class, and the e-conomy, with the “e” standing for electronic, entrepreneurial, or perhaps eclectic. Everywhere we look, we can see the U.S.workforce undergoing a massive change. No longer do we work at the same company for 25 years, waiting for the gold watch, expecting the benefits and security that come with full-time employment. We’re no longer simply lawyers, or photographers, or writers. Instead, we’re part-time lawyers-cum- amateur photographers who write on the side.

Today, careers consist of piecing together various types of work, juggling multiple clients, learning to be marketing and accounting experts, and creating offices in bedrooms/coffee shops/coworking spaces. Independent workers abound. We call them freelancers, contractors, sole proprietors, consultants, temps, and the self-employed.

And, perhaps most surprisingly, many of them love it.

Read more at The Atlantic

[thenextweb]

[rankandfile-blog]

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)

[futuramb]

[rankandfile-blog]

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)

[rankandfile-blog]

Without explicitly saying the word Hotmail, Google recently launched an Email Intervention campaign. Designed to help us get our friends off of old providers, and onto Gmail so we can gchat, call, and video chat with them, the video is aimed at hotmail users, and the people who love them.

Days later (coincidence?), Microsoft releases Gmail Man, a friendly, creepy mailman who asks embarrassing, intrusive questions while he delivers your email.

Never mind that Google Apps for Business (the closest analog to Office 365) doesn't have ads in Gmail, and that Microsoft's Hotmail is full of even blinkier, more garish ads (a better comparison for ad-laden consumer Gmail in the video).

[rankandfile-blog]

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.

[rankandfile-blog]

It's a common misconception: That unlike Excel, the Google Docs Spreadsheets program doesn't support pivot tables.

And it was true. Up until May, one had to enable a special third-party gadget that was two-menus deep. But no-longer. Google Docs Spreadsheets now fully supports Pivot Tables.

Google adds features almost weekly to to Google Apps, so when surveying the Google Apps landscape, be prepared to check in frequently.

(Also be prepared to wrap your mind around different models of features. Many Google Apps programs don't map quite directly to Microsoft Office feature models.)

[rankandfile-blog]

Where do workers get the most days off?

The Economist accounts for national holidays, vacation days, and sick days.

No delightful surprises here, we're afraid.

[rankandfile-blog]

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.

[theeconomist]

[rankandfile-blog]

Telecommunications costs are falling worldwide. The report covers mobile, fixed line, and fixed line broadband costs.

Our interest is in the topic? Consumer broadband pricing doesn't only enable remote work habits. In many cases, consumer broadband quality drives them.

/via theeconomist

[rankandfile-blog]

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-bits]

[rankandfile-blog]

Enchanting Google desktop client concept. Would love bit of social in the nav. Particularly avatars of peers who recently edited/viewed/shared Google Docs. It would answer the eternal question, "did they get my notes on that...?"

9-bits:

Josh Collie has been doing some fantastic mockups on Forrst for a desktop Google application.

[parislemon]

Microsoft battles Google Apps campus popularity with some creative licensing

[rankandfile-blog]

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. 

[rankandfile-blog]

Google's recent Extreme Makeover(s) reminds one of an episode of The Office:

After witnessing the rapid ascension of Ryan and his website project, a paranoid Creed dyes his hair black. 

[rankandfile-blog]

Google IO starts today. Reminder that all main sessions are live-streamed for free.

Google is excellent about recording and archiving proceedings of nearly all of its events, be it an internal tech talk, regional meetup, or product announcement. Google I/O is no exception. 

While all individual sessions are recorded and archived after the event, all main sessions and keynotes will be live-streamed this week at http://www.google.com/io.

We defy you to look away.