I have to preface this post with the statement that I haven’t read Nathan Clevenger’s book, iPad in the Enterprise: Developing and Deploying Business Applications, so I am only dealing with the content of this excerpt from his book.
Clevenger makes the argument that widespread use of iPads in the enterprise is simply part of the consumerization if IT. The consumerization of IT is simply the use of consumer technologies in the enterprise and the rapid growth can be attributed to the following:
First and foremost, the price points make mobile devices far more accessible than other computing devices. Second, the massive diversity of applications, and the ease of purchase and installation of these applications is very different from what IT departments are typically used to.
Mobile devices like the iPad are inexpensive, easy to use, and require virtually no traditional IT department support. The following two quotes really capture the essences of why this change is happening:
As perceptive CIOs seek to transform their rigid, legacy ridden infrastructures into agile, efficient, service-driven delivery mechanisms, they must adopt a pragmatic approach to managing the risks of consumer IT while embracing the benefits. Otherwise, the CIOs risk being sidelined as the ‘enemy’ by their constituencies
and
It may involve painful changes in the status quo of corporate IT, including, as Blake said, how IT groups have to “shed our arrogance” to give the underlying technology a chance to succeed.
At the heart of these two quotes, CIO and IT departments risk being sidelined as the ‘enemy’ and they need to ‘shed their arrogance’ and realize that IT no longer needs to be in control of the technology because technology has developed to the point where it simply works and doesn’t require the support is once did. When you use an iPad you don’t have to deal with installation, configuration or licensing issues because that is handled through Apple’s infrastructure and for the most part these devices just work. Other than getting your user id and password for network connectivity or connectivity to the organizations email system, one doesn’t need IT support. A user can simply use the device to do what they need or want to do.
In 2003 most IT departments rightly ignored the warnings in Nicholas Carr’s book, IT Doesn’t Matter, because back then IT was still a “mysterious dark art” that required special skills and abilities to simply get your email to work or to access documents from anywhere. Today, with devices like the iPad technology, traditional IT support is unnecessary because the technology is advanced enough to simply work.
To be fair to my colleagues in IT they do matter and they won’t be going away any time soon. They just need to realize that they must give up their control of the things that no longer need control. I know the IT professionals I currently work with are excited about the fact that working with iPads and Adroid tablets will enable them to move away from supporting basic functionality and allow them to focus on the really exciting and challenging task of moving to a fully digital work environment. I am fortunate enough to be working with a group of forward thinking IT professionals who see technologies like the iPad as catalysts that will usher in a new and exciting world of opportunities for learning and for growth.
