GigaOM » Web Workers

How to successfully manage the consumerization of IT

Andy McLoughlin, Huddle — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 17:00:14 +0000

I wrote recently about the apps that feed our mobile addiction. Now, the trouble with an addiction is that it needs constant feeding, and with mobiles, tablets and other devices, it has never been easier to tap and click away to your heart’s content. For consumers this is wonderful, but for IT departments it can be a major headache as employees seek the same freedom and flexibility at work.

Whether on smartphone or tablet, business leaders now demand access to corporate email and documents 24/7. When they get such access, they begin to see the potential that comes with it: increased productivity and flexibility, improved efficiency and perhaps even a reduction in the amount of office space required as people are able to work remotely. When this occurs, senior execs start asking why there isn’t a company-wide mobile strategy in place — which is exactly where the troubles can begin for beleaguered IT teams.

Tablets equal headaches

We have all heard the phrase “consumerization of IT.” But despite its overfamiliarity, it is a genuine phenomenon. If enterprises don’t issue their workforce with smartphones or tablets, employees become increasingly intent on using their own devices. This trend, affectionately known as Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), is a real headache for IT teams. Recent research from Dell KACE showed that of 750 IT professionals surveyed, almost nine in ten said that their staff were using their own devices for anything ranging from email right through to CRM and ERP.

More devices means more operating systems, which in turn means added complexity for IT departments. Concerns about network security breaches, IP theft and loss of data mean that a strategy for addressing BYOD is imperative.

The best approach

Essentially what is happening is a shift from IT assets inside the firewall to IT assets outside the firewall. While this does present challenges, it is by no means an insurmountable problem.

Your enterprises should begin by choosing at least three smartphone platforms to support. It is, of course, impossible to support every platform, but an audit of the most popular devices in an organization will reveal the most appropriate. Then your organization must decide what type of approach it wants to take: Do you still want to provide and retain control of all devices, software and apps? Or is there merit in a hands-off strategy? Perhaps your IT departments should recommend devices and apps but ultimately let employees source their own, with any required controls applied in the cloud?

Business has changed, IT must follow

The way in which so many of us work has changed dramatically over the last decade. There is no longer a requirement for today’s web workforce to be stuck in one location or connected to one enterprise server. Web workers are mobile and flexible — reflective of the way businesses operate in 2012.

So the traditional roles and responsibilities of an IT department are changing, just as the way that businesses operate is changing. An IT team worth its salt needs to be aware of this. The consumerization of IT and BYOD are not passing fads, and the sooner organizations embrace this, the sooner they can reap the many benefits that such an approach brings. People are going to use devices that make their working lives easier whether an IT Director likes it or not, so surely acceptance is the way forward for any right-minded organization?

By relinquishing just a little control, IT departments can unlock their organizations from the constraints that come with the old approach to device management and usher them into a new era of productivity, flexibility and collaboration.

Andy McLoughlin, co-founder and EVP Strategy at Huddle, can be reached on Twitter @Bandrew.

Image courtesy of Flickr user rhodes.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Are social network fanatics less ethical?

Jessica Stillman — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 14:02:22 +0000

If asked to imagine the possible drawbacks of our seemingly ever-increasing impulse to connect online via social networks, most of us would probably suggest the dubious, time-wasting attractions of the likes of FarmVille or even the relationship-ruining potential of these services (one in three divorces in the UK last year cited Facebook). But a new survey suggests another more-surprising possible drawback of heavy social network use: lower ethical standards.

The 2011 National Business Ethics Survey is the seventh such report published periodically by the Ethics Resource Center, but this year’s edition turned up something unexpected. According ERC, “active social networkers,” which the organization defines as those who spend at least 30 percent of their workdays on social networking activities and who make up about 11 percent of employees who engage in social networking,

are much more likely than non-networking colleagues to accept behaviors that have traditionally been considered to be “questionable” or marginal behaviors (e.g., keeping copies of confidential work documents for use in a future job, personal use of the company credit card, taking home company software).

The survey also found that active users are also far more likely to experience pressure to compromise ethical standards (42 percent versus 11 percent of less-active networkers). On the ethical upside, these same active networkers also expressed a greater willingness to share unflattering information about their organizations and co-workers, which one would guess is logically linked to another quality of this group identified by the research: an increased likelihood to report lapses in ethics. These extreme social networkers may be more-frequent whistleblowers, but they also suffer for their outspokenness, being far more likely to experience retaliation for reporting misconduct than co-workers who are less involved with social networking (56 percent versus 18 percent).

The greater likelihood of social networking power users to learn of ethical lapses (or even opportunities to cut corners), as well as their increased likelihood to report violations, makes sense: After all, these are people who are probably receiving and sharing far more information than less-frequent users. But the greater propensity of active networkers to break the rules has no obvious explanation. Perhaps those choosing to utilize social networks to such a degree are naturally inclined to use whatever tools are at hand to get their jobs done rather than stick to the letter of the law (or strictly within the policies of IT) and this correlates with a greater willingness to bend the rules, but that is pure speculation.

What do you make of these findings?

Image courtesy of Flickr user miss_rogue

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

A plea for a better Google Docs

Erica Ogg — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 19:00:57 +0000

Google Docs users unite! Most of us who work with Google’s online suite of productivity applications have or will at some point get frustrated with Google Documents, Spreadsheets, Presentations et al. After polling coworkers and GigaOM readers recently, and going over the responses, it’s clear the product we know and like could be so much better (and useful!) with more attention from its creator. Herewith is our manifesto:

WHEREAS Google Docs is a free service that is convenient, a practical necessity in online collaboration and widely used;
WHEREAS the service can also be unreliable, unpredictable and capable of inducing keyboard-mashing fits of frustration;
WE PROPOSE taking into account the requests of some of the most avid and vocal users. As suggested by GigaOM readers over the last few weeks, we ask for:

Better folder permissions management
The ability to insert cut cells
Better selection of functions in Spreadsheets like what you’d find in Microsoft Excel
The ability to toggle between rows and columns
Multiple criteria for sorting spreadsheets
Scheduled backups
Reliable sharing
Improved drag-and-drop functionality
Fewer menus and toolbars and a larger viewing pane in the browser
Better document navigation
Automatic paragraph numbering
The ability to view in outline-only format
Editable style sheets
The ability to insert shape options
No limits on importing data
Better integration with desktop applications
Faster overall performance, especially when importing complex spreadsheets
And please, please above all: play well with Powerpoint.

OK, OK, so maybe we’re being a little demanding for users of a free service. But it’s only because we use Google Docs so often and it’s such an ingrained part of our work days that we want it to fit more smoothly into our work flows. While these are some specific requests from readers and staff, there are larger issues which probably need to change before any of the particular complaints above are addressed.

As Steve K told us in his plea for simplicity:

“Google has the tools to remake FileMaker and have the results pop out on various pages to be shared in different ways without a degree in computer science to set it up. There’s my wish.”

This is a theme in Google products: They sometimes come off as being made by engineers for engineers. They might have that gee-whiz factor for the more technically minded, but for regular people just trying to get work done and who don’t want or have time to figure out the best workarounds and shortcuts, it would be much appreciated if all the features in Google Docs were accessible and easy to find and understand.

The second issue also goes to the core of Google, which is hands-off by nature. As GigaOM commenter John put it:

“For me the difficulty is trying to understand how serious they are about any of their technologies beyond search. I am working with the app scripting stuff and its pretty unclear if it is really under development and/or actually being supported. Compared to the alternatives it seems like things happen when they get around to it. Most of their technologies seem to have a half-life of a year or less. I am constantly asking myself if its [sic] really worth investing my time when its [sic] likely to be “retired” at any moment.”

It’s true that productivity apps online are very clearly not Google’s primary business. But as it continues to sell its Google Apps suite, which includes Google Docs, to giant enterprises and public agencies, it seems like it should pay attention to the functionality and reliability of Docs and providing better support. Developers also gripe that Google is really not all that into its developer tools.

And though Google has in recent years been all over the map with its online initiatives, there are hopeful signs they’re beginning to focus attention and resources: CEO Larry Page is cleaning house and getting rid of failed projects like Google Wave and other extracurricular initiatives. This could be good news for Docs users if it means increased focus on well-liked and heavily used products.

For more about the future of online collaboration tools and the changing nature of the workplace, be sure to get a ticket to our Net:Work conference on Dec. 8 in San Francisco.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Coworking beloved by users but not bean counters, survey finds

Jessica Stillman — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:01:38 +0000

Coworking magazine Deskmag presented the results of its second annual coworking survey at the Coworking Europe Conference last week, releasing the first results on its blog as well. While confirming that coworking is well-loved by movement participants, the results did uncover challenges ahead for the movement.

Deskmag talked to 1,500 people in 52 countries to reach its conclusion, working with a web of partner organizations. The verdict was great news for coworking when it comes to the individual benefits of participating:

93 percent said their social circle had increased a lot as a result of joining a coworking space
86 percent said their business network had grown
76 percent reported an increase in productivity
88 percent said their isolation had decreased

Respondents were nearly universally enthusiastic (96 percent) about the sense of community at their spaces, with 54 percent trusting fellow members enough to always leave a laptop unattended and 29 percent happy to leave one for a few hours.

While coworking is clearly well-loved by space members, the news was more mixed for space owners, with only 40 percent of coworking spaces reporting making a profit this year. This confirms concerns about finding a profitable model for spaces without sacrificing the ambiance and community that members value so highly, which we have heard previously from owners and managers.

More detailed results from the survey are due out soon.

Do you think much of the coworking movement is built on a shaky business model?

Image courtesy of Flickr user mdanys

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Extreme telecommuting: how to move to Italy and keep your day job

Jessica Stillman — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:00:00 +0000

Scroll through past posts on GigaOM and other tech sites and you’ll see a litany of new gadgets, gizmos and apps. There will be plenty of speculation on new ways of working and no shortage of predictions for the future. All of this is fascinating, but it sometimes makes you wonder what all of these new technologies and ideas add up to on the ground. Is the future of work really just the jabbering of pundits, or is all of this actually making a difference on the ground?

For those moments of doubt, there is no better cure than a conversation with Barry Frangipane, the co-author of The Venice Experiment: A Year of Trial and Error Living Abroad. A middle-of-the-road computer programmer living in Florida with a full-time job, Frangipane decided to see if he could make all the advances in remote collaboration and increased acceptance of telecommuting work for him — by moving to Venice for a year with his wife and keeping his day job.

Sneaking up on the boss

Frangipane knew better than to spring a transatlantic move on his boss all at once, opting instead to inch his way toward greater freedom by slowly proving that, for him, the office was only a hindrance.

“The first thing I did was I started working a day a week at home,” he explains, “and then that gradually grew until I was spending the entire week working from home. Home being five miles away from the office.” From that point it was a surprisingly simple leap from Florida to Italy.

“Once you iron out the technical details and your employer can see that your productivity is actually increasing working from home, then at that point approaching the boss and saying, ‘look, I’m thinking of moving my home. Oh, and by the way, that home is Venice,’ well certainly it’s a little startling, but when the discussion turns to just the facts,” the boss has no reason to disagree.

All upside

Did Frangipane’s customers revolt? Did he miss the office banter or feel like his career was suffering because he was 4,000 miles away? Quite the contrary. “I would say it was all upside,” he says. Leaving aside the benefits of spending a year in one of the world’s most beautiful cities, Frangipane actually felt he got more done living abroad.

“In an office environment, there are so many interruptions. One of my partners once said that 32 15-minute interruptions is the entire day. And it makes you think a little bit,” he says. “When I’m working at home people don’t just stop by and stand in my doorway to talk about the ball game. I find myself substantially more productive because I can focus for longer periods of time.”

Dare to dream

Frangipane is adamant that there’s nothing special about him that allowed him to succeed at extreme telecommuting and insists that while living abroad for a year isn’t for everyone, it is for way more people than you’d think. “There was a time when this was just for computer people — web designers and programmers and things — but not so much anymore,” he says, citing the case of a neighbor who works as a customer service rep for a big-box store and has never set foot in the company’s offices.

“It wouldn’t even be noticed if she moved to another country and just continued answering the phone,” he says.

And if you think that Frangipane is simply braver than the average joe, he replies that simply setting a date to leave, informing yourself about your destination and carefully planning your move does wonders to embolden the timid. “Before you go, check the blogs online, check websites and talk to people who have already done it and ask them questions. You’ll see that many of your fears will be allayed,” he insists.

Once he and his wife started learning more about life in Venice, “you start realizing that they’re really just not that much different. Everybody puts on their pants one leg at a time.”

Learning to think Italian

International similarities in dressing aside, there were differences between the Italian way of life and the American, according to Frangipane, and these made a deep impression on him. “I find that things that used to be considered big issues for me, office politics and things, just slide off my back now,” he says. And Italy also changed him in other ways.

“Venice is a town of only 60,000 people and functions as one big family. Everyone knows everyone. They’re happy to shut their stores for a half an hour and just take you to the local coffee shop. They value the relationships so much more than the money that that has certainly changed my focus,” says Frangipane. “I’ve learned that earning that last $1,000 or $10,000 a year is not as important as the relationships.”

How much so? He and his wife already have their eye on Paris for another jaunt abroad.

Image courtesy of Flickr user melename

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

GoDropBox allows people to upload files to your Google Docs account

Simon Mackie — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:05:48 +0000

UPDATE: GoDropBox has been renamed GoFileDrop.

GoDropBox is a nifty third-party add-on for Google Apps that adds a public mailbox to your Google Docs account, enabling anyone with the appropriate link to upload files to your account. This is handy for web workers who would like to accept files that are too big to email and don’t want to have to use additional file transfer tools.

Once installed via the Google Apps Marketplace, you’ll be given a unique URL that you can then forward to other people, which allows them to upload files to your Google Docs account through their browser (they can only upload files and don’t have the ability to read or otherwise access your account). The upload page is fairly basic, as shown in the screenshot above. It is easy to use and supports drag and drop, allows batch file uploads and can show upload progress. Uploaded files appear immediately in your Google Docs account.

The installed version of GoDropBox is only a trial, offering up to 100 users on a domain just 50 MB of data allowance each. Additional data is priced at $5 for 2 GB per month, $9 for 5 GB per month, or $15 for 10 GB per month (subscriptions can be canceled at any time).

Note: Confusingly, despite the name, this has absolutely nothing to do with file-sync-and-sharing service Dropbox. Also, in order to use it, you’ll have to be a Google Apps user and an admin will have to install it on your domain.

(via Digital Inspiration)

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

HTML5’s a Game-Changer for Web Apps

Simon Mackie — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 07:20:17 +0000

HTML5 isn’t yet fully ratified, but browser vendors are nonetheless starting to implement some of its features. This presents a huge opportunity for forward-thinking web app developers, which in turn will spell good news for ever-growing number people who uses web apps.

oDesk, Freelancers & the Future of Work

Om Malik — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:29:48 +0000

Earlier this week, Menlo Park, Calif.-based startup oDesk announced a new service called oDesk Staffing, which gives U.S.-based freelancers access to benefits (including health coverage, retirement plans and education savings accounts), along with other services. This move by oDesk, which describes itself as a marketplace for work, is a smart one, as it positions the company to take advantage of a major societal shift.

The pervasiveness of connectivity and easy availability of broadband is not only going to transform how we interact, but it’s going to redefine the way we work. And as the notion of the workplace gets redefined, a trend we closely follow on WebWorkerDaily, the needs and desires of workers themselves are going to change.

While today services such as Amazon.com’s Mechanical Turk are little more than a curiosity, tomorrow similar services will be an integral part of global commerce. A world of loosely affiliated workers, who come together to do a specific task and then move on to the next project as part of another team, is the wave of the future. Even small startups such as our little company are becoming increasingly transglobal in nature. Large companies are already trying to come to terms with the reality of a highly distributed and disaggregated work forces.

Building a platform to service the needs of such a fluid workforce is, in my view, a big opportunity. One company that has bet on this trend is oDesk. Today oDesk’s business is helping freelancers connect with those who need their services and helping keep track of the time they spend working for payments and billings. (See WebWorkerDaily’s interview with oDesk’s CEO Gary Swart for more.) But the oDesk platform could be used by any large company that has a distributed and disaggregated work force. That realization came to me when I read this little snippet in the press release announcing the oDesk Staffing launch:

“oDesk Staffing helps us deal with compliance regulations around contract work, lets us offer benefits to our workers, and also enjoy the active productivity of high-visibility online collaboration,” said Jim Abolt, of VP of Human Resources at Trilogy, Inc. “Having the option to manage workers as independent contractors or as leased employees lets us hire on an as-needed basis, no matter what type of work needs to be done.”

That’s just it: The future of work will consist of independent contractors or so-called leased employees working in tandem with a core team, wherever it might be.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.

Google Chrome OS: More and Better Web Apps on The Way?

Simon Mackie — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 14:00:01 +0000

Google’s recent announcement that it’s to start working on a new lightweight open source operating system, Google Chrome OS — Chrome running on top of the Linux kernel, with the browser basically becoming the OS — has garnered plenty of attention in the media recently (there’s a roundup of our network coverage here). But the gist of it is this: netbooks running Chrome OS (its initial target platform — although it looks like Google isn’t only targeting netbooks) will effectively be “web app optimized,” running web apps in preference to native applications (with, apparently, instant access to applications like email).

That means Chrome OS could herald a slew of new web apps taking advantage of of the performace offered by a lightning-fast web app OS. The entire OS will effectively be a highly-optimized browser, without any desktop cruft to slow it down. Chrome (the browser) is already fast — by far the fastest browser available currently. But by stripping everything else away, we should see web apps that feel much more like native desktop applications.

This is great news for web workers, who increasingly rely on complex web applications to get their work done. Faster web apps are obviously a good thing in and of themselves if you rely on them for your productivity, but, perhaps even more importantly, it’s good news for developers, who will be able to produce increasingly diverse, complex and powerful web apps.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
Subscriber content. Sign up for a free trial.