Thanks to Pointsec Mobile Technologies, we now know that forgetfulness qualifies as a major IT concern. The company contacted taxi companies in nine countries asking them how common it is for customers to leave cell phones, PDAs, laptops and other tools of the mobile professional behind in cabs. The results were staggering to say the least.
In Chicago alone, the survey suggests that more than 100,000 devices were left behind in a six-month period. But the news isn’t all bad: passengers were reunited with their cell phones 80 percent of the time, and with laptops and PDAs 96 percent of the time.
If you’re not practicing the password and encryption features of your device, you better. Oh and remember to tip your cab driver. Most items were returned thanks to the efforts of the drivers themselves.
A recent poll surveyed executives at companies with annual sales of at least $50 million. The vast majority said that information technology spending was on the rebound and that avoiding tech purchases could create competitive disadvantages. And the consequences?
- 49% said not spending for IT would cause significant competitive disadvantage,
- 29% said there would be some disadvantage,
- and 5% said there would be no disadvantage.
There have been several well documented blogger firings from companies in the recent press, and it brings up many questions of legality, morality and human resources. There’s a good article at Workforce Management, but you’ll need to register for free to read it. Bloggers Find The Ax is Mightier Than The Pen recounts some of these recent firings and the questions that arise.
Do employees have the right to post online commentaries about their employers and jobs? Is it wise for employers to restrict these sites? And what happens when employees step over the line and post something that’s embarrassing or detrimental to co-workers or the company?
You’ll find some examples of employee blogging policy and recommendations from attorneys on how employers can address the Internet activities of their employees during and after work, while not infringing on employee rights.
Companies must understand that this isn’t just a random hobby that a few people are engaging in. It’s becoming a mainstream and widespread form of communication. Employers must recognize that unless they accommodate blogging, they risk losing good people.
I think we’ll be seeing a lot more of this!
Measuring the Business Benefit of IT, at CFO.com is a synopsis of a report that summarizes the findings of interviews with executives at 11 companies. Some very complex thoughts on measuring value of IT projects:
What does a company really “earn,” after all, by making E-mail available to its employees? Yes, employees are likely to be more productive, but quantifying the increase is bound to be a rough estimate at best. And how do you assign a value to meeting customer expectations that employees be reachable by E-mail?
Some companies are qualifying that value prior to giving a project the go-ahead, while others are a bit relaxed and look to see if what was promised is delivered at the end.
Last summer there was an explosive article in the Harvard Business Review IT Doesn’t Matter by Nicholas Carr, on how IT may go the way of the railroads. So what should companies do? From a practical standpoint, the most important lesson to be learned may be this: When a resource becomes essential to competition but inconsequential to strategy, the risks it creates become more important than the advantages it provides.
Well, Bloor Research in Performance Management and why IT doesn’t matter states the problem is in converting strategic thinking into tactical action.
So, the core question is whether senior executives are any good at developing corporate strategy? All the evidence suggests that, with only a few exceptions, they are not.
In the long run, though, the greatest IT risk facing most companies is more prosaic than a catastrophe. It is, simply, overspending. Studies of corporate IT spending consistently show that greater expenditures rarely translate into superior financial results. In fact, the opposite is usually true. Organizations have a perverted thinking that if they have “the latest and the greatest” software and hardware, they are on the leading edge of IT strategy. Wrong!
Businesses are set to spend more money than ever according to Quantit Economic Group. Yes, that’s even more than the great 1996 through 2000 “inflate the bubble” era. The forecast exceeds the half-trillion-dollar level for the first time. Some real pent up demand ready to explode after 3 years of just making do.
But companies are showing profits and they do need to stay competitive. A full 70% of companies say they are investing in IT to maintain competitiveness rather than to get ahead. So it’s time to review your IT strategy just to keep up.
Isn’t this a strange twist, especially for a financial institution? Washington Federal Savings has said no to ATM’s, e-mail and web access! How do they survive? Read about it at CFO.com — There’s No ”IT” in ”Thrift”. Very interesting.
Only one penny of every $1 in revenue is spent on technology, an extraordinarily low figure, according to industry analysts. Most banks spend 4 percent to 8 percent of revenues on IT; the larger ones spend up to 20 percent.
While analysts question how long Washington Federal can maintain its efficiency and growth without embracing IT more fully, the company rolls on, accumulating cash and planning new branches in Nevada, Oregon, and Washington State.
I get this question all the time: Should You Shut the Computer Down? And my answer, as well as the answer in this article is “No.” The amount of power used by a PC or laptop is about that of a light bulb. The real concern is, if you are connected to the Internet, are you more susceptible to a virus or attack? Well if they can get you overnight while you’re away, they can get you while you’re sitting at the machine. So leave the computer on and plug your security hole instead.
An in-depth article in CFO magazine about the Risks of Rogue Technology.
In IT parlance, “rogue technology” doesn’t suggest anything about deceitfulness or a lack of principles. In many cases the “rogues” are well-meaning employees who try to wring more productivity from fewer IT dollars but — because they’ve wandered from the path of the tried-and-true — haven’t paid sufficient attention to the security risks or additional costs. Perhaps without management’s knowledge, they bought a PDA with their own money and used it to access the network, or they set up a Wi-Fi “hot-spot” in a remote part of the corporate campus. Maybe they stored corporate data on a USB fob they got for free at a convention, or they used their camera-phone to take a few snapshots at work. Perhaps they used Yahoo or AOL to send an instant message to a colleague, a chat they didn’t realize would be vulnerable to interception since it occurred beyond the corporate firewall.
Do you have rogue tech in your organization? Better plug those leaks.
This paper is short and pretty basic. However, if you’re trying to convince your company’s management of the value of weblogs – maybe even to start a company blog – this paper would be a good thing to give to the boss. “Using RSS For Corporate Communications”. And here’s another supporting article talking about the significance of this new customer relationship tool: Jumping on the corporate blog wagon.
