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Don't brush off consumer IT

weekly roundup Some enterprises may find themselves struggling to manage a myriad of consumer devices that employees bring into office each day. Most are concerned with the security of these devices, since workers use them for both work and play.
Written by Eileen Yu, Senior Contributing Editor

weekly roundup Some enterprises may find themselves struggling to manage a myriad of consumer devices that employees bring into office each day. Most are concerned with the security of these devices, since workers use them for both work and play.

There's always a chance that if their workers' cellphones or handhelds get lost during the daily commute, valuable business information on those gadgets may be compromised.

But, rather than imposing an outright ban on consumer gadgets in the office, it makes better sense to learn how to manage consumer technology that's now sweeping across the workplace.

The consumerization of IT is something that enterprises cannot ignore. Many forms of technology present in companies today have their roots in the consumer world.

It was Skype that popularized voice-over-IP. It was Google that revolutionized Internet search--and companies are now just beginning to pay attention to enterprise search. The familiar Windows operating system that's used in many servers today also started off as a consumer desktop product. Certainly, wikis and blogs used in some companies today weren't invented by vendors that build enterprise products.

Even social networking is changing the IT landscape. While we do not expect to see a MySpace equivalent for enterprises, technology suppliers will be expected to come up with solutions that address the needs of Web 2.0 sites that demand flexible, yet mammoth technology architectures.

In other news this week, find out why enterprises should not ignore prosumers who are hooking up their mobile devices to corporate e-mail boxes. Also, read about Microsoft's patching blues and former Hewlett-Packard (HP) chief Carly Fiorina's take on the rifts within the HP board.

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