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Is Your Home PC Better Than Your Work PC?

If so, you are likely a big headache to your IT department. But you're also not alone. According to Yankee Group, 50% of employees think their home technology outpaces their work technology and aren't afraid to bend rules. What's an enterprise to do?

The problem is called consumerization. More and more frequently, technologies meant for the consumer are being deployed or used--with or without approval--in the enterprise environment. And because we're so used to controlling this technology at home, we don't blink about side-stepping IT regulations to make our work PCs behave or function more like our home PCs.This can create all sorts of havoc, such as security, maintenance and support problems for IT.

In a new report, Yankee suggests that to cope with the issue, enterprises need to be less totalitarian and more peaceful. In fact, the old "My Way Or The Highway" mantra won't work at all. A new style of managing rogue employees is necessary. Yankee says:

Enterprise IT that tries to ignore the adoption of these technologies in the workplace will potentially lead to a hazardous mix of secured and unsecured applications in the enterprise. Instead, IT must adopt a Zen-like approach to manage the technology and the rogue employee. Ceding control to end users via an internal customer care cooperative model reduces IT's burden while improving customer satisfaction. The Zen support model is fundamentally different than most IT organizations today because it doesn't seek to dictate policy and enforce standards, but rather set guidelines and steer users in the right direction.

Raise your hand if you're not guilty of trying to sneak a Wi-Fi hotspot into the office. Or hooking up your iPod to your work PC. Or downloading some forbidden apps, such as an IM client. I am totally guilty. At my last corporate job, my machine was so incredibly locked down, you had to have IT perform any sort of install. It was infuriating. But I befriended someone in the IT department who had an admin password and let me make a couple of minor changes that made me happy. Not everyone is so lucky.

What we all often forget is that the machines given us by our employers are not ours to do with as we please. They are tools to help us get our jobs done. Often times, though, it's like your employer has given you a Ford Focus when you have a Porsche 911 at home. Driving the Focus for 40 hours a week is tedious and annoying when we know what a sheer pleasure the 911 is. Customizing the Focus with after-market mufflers and air intakes will never give it the performance of the 911. Same goes for your work hardware.

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