BYOD trend could kill off role of CIO – SCC
Disruption predicted for channel too as PC buying cycles 'fast evaporating'
Posted in Management, 2nd October 2012 13:00 GMT
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The traditional role of the CIO is under threat as the Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) phenomenon crosses into the mainstream.
But the channel is set to feel the impact too, or so says reseller-cum-integrator SCC, whose CTO today delivered a keynote on 'Architecting Choice' to the CIO Connect Conference in London, identifying BYOD as the most dramatic cultural change in IT for two decades.
SCC corporate CTO Ian Sherratt claimed the rate of BYOD and mobile tech adoption is "breathtaking", which is casting a question mark over the classic three to five year PC refresh cycle.
"That process is fast evaporating and we must come to terms with the fact that users like what they like," said Sherratt, "and five years is a long time to be staring at the same window on the world, especially now."
Analyst Tech Market View has already warned that BYOD will "significantly disrupt" the B2B hardware channel as users buy kit from local retailers rather being procured centrally by their employer.
On the flip side, services providers can help organisations solve the challenges of BYOD with cost and vulnerability auditing, user class analysis and impact modelling, TMV has said.
SCC's Sherrat warned CIOs against resisting the BYOD move as workers will "find ways to circumvent the rules" making it difficult for firms to "preserve data integrity and security" under the current corporate governance system.
He said users taking their own tech into the office are defining their own productivity needs.
"In this scenario the traditional CIO role is under pressure and fast becoming at risk, leaving those in such positions with a clear need to redefine the role they play in company operations," he said.
The job of work for CIOs needs to shift from one predicated on IT delivery to a "business specific focus" with data at the heart - the "pre-eminent corporate asset".
CIOs from various industries met last month at the CIO Executive Summit 2012 in Hong Kong with opinions ranging from 'let the kids [pushing BYOD] have what they want' to 'listen, but don't take users too seriously". ®
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COMMENTS
Holy sh*t
Was this a press release that you just republished... it reminds of
1) SaaS wouild put all IT Departments out of work
2) Virtualisation would lead to mass lay offs because servers would be so consolidated
3) Cloud would remove the need for businesses to have their own servers
4) Tape was dead and D2D would rule the world
Do you honestly believe this drivel? Please if you want to print it, at least put some reality into it!
What title?
"He said users taking their own tech into the office are defining their own productivity needs."
Sack the CIO that allows this to happen in the first place!
Why bother even locking the doors at night?
Re: What title?
'workers will "find ways to circumvent the rules"'
The traditional response to this involves firing those workers. Why has it become acceptable to let employees flagrantly violate data security rules simply because they are paying for the devices that let them do so?
The whole BYOD thing seems like madness.
This will happen...
Right up to the moment that massive amounts of company data gets lost. They byod than fine, it stays out of the office or at home. It isn't being used on the company network unless the company provides it and secures it as necessary.
The Register keeps pushing this nonsense
Please provide a peer reviewed piece of independent research involving a statistically significant number of companies wanting to pursue BYOD and which shows how the CIO/CEO/CFOs are going to manage their responsibilities to shareholders with this tactic. I'd love to know and in the meantime, it ain't happening in my company.
BYOD is a fantasy of the hardware device manufacturers and Apple who want to find a way to have their products, which are not enterprise ready, in the enterprise by the back door. It is staggering to me that the register keeps pumping this message. I can only assume there is some reward for not just binning each of these articles.
Maybe the belief is that if its said often enough it will become reality. Wake up! You're dreaming again.
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