The demands of modern business mean that many IT directors are being forced to question which technology is the most appropriate for users in a flexible, internet-enabled, environmentally-aware organisation.
New tools and technologies are emerging that offer alternatives to the traditional PC-based model. These systems promise greater mobility, higher security, lower energy consumption, and tighter integration with IP-based voice and data networks – all at a lower cost.
But many organisations are wedded to the PC – so what is the future for the way that users access their IT?
Computing hosted a roundtable debate, in association with NEC, inviting IT managers and experts from across the private and public sectors to discuss the key criteria for developing a 21st century personal computing strategy.
Here we present a round-up of their views and experiences.
The Microsoft factor
It is, of course, impossible to devise a personal computing strategy without considering the role that Microsoft’s products will play – after all, more than 90 per cent of PCs run Windows. But the software giant continues to polarise opinion.
‘We have recommended to our clients not to even look at Windows Vista for at least a year,’ said independent consultant John Brown.
‘We have tried to implement the product in several situations, and it is very difficult to work it backwards into a previous environment. Vista in itself is fine but as soon as we integrate it backwards with other applications, all sorts of problems start to occur.’
Jan Durant, head of IT at law firm Lewis Silkin, says people often forget the positive contribution Microsoft has made to IT.
‘It is really fashionable for people to roll their eyes when they talk about Microsoft,’ she said.
‘But without Microsoft we wouldn’t have the standardisation we have now.
‘There is a place for competitors – we use some Linux – but Microsoft has given us a platform for standardisation.
‘As a law firm, we have to keep a copy of everything we say and do in writing, electronically. In the days when there were many different word processing systems it was complicated to get everything to integrate,’ she said.
The use of open source software, such as Linux and OpenOffice, as an alternative to Microsoft also remains a source of debate.
‘There is talk that in the process of looking at a migration to Vista and Office 2007, some local authorities are now using that as an opportunity to revisit Linux on the desktop because of the cost implications,’ said David Perry, an analyst at Freeform Dynamics.
‘They have to make some kind of a change, there is effort involved, so are looking at other things that might be considerably cheaper from the licensing perspective.’
But Durant says open source does not always satisfy the priorities of the private sector.
‘I would like to be a pioneer in open source, but we are a commercial organisation and we can’t delay by messing around with programs,’ she said.
‘I would love a product such as OpenOffice to work for us, but our Word is so heavily customised we just wouldn’t be able to do it.’
The growth of mobile working
Increasing demands for flexibility in the workplace and the need to improve work/life balance are leading to much greater use of mobile computing to meet the needs of corporate IT.
More and more people will want to work from home in the future, and IT must respond, says Greg Bunnage, systems development director at Kent County Council.
‘In light of all the initiatives affecting how much we pay for transport, there has to come a time when more work is done from home,’ he said.
‘That will have its own problems. We have a generation of people who probably would like to work from home but do they have the confidence and competence to do so? And with the advent of broadband, you have 24-hour on-demand computing at home, and that will continue and people will choose the hours they want to work.’
Adrian Rich, head of IT at chartered surveyor Sanderson Weatherall, says the IT department must be clear about how best to manage remote workers.
‘People feel they should have access to office systems from home,’ he said.
‘We counter that by saying you don’t have a controlled, secure PC at home, so we will provide you with a laptop with a virtual private network client so we can control it and know exactly what is on it. That also feeds into the business continuity plan.’
And consultant Brown says there will be big changes to come in the devices used by staff outside of the office.
‘In the future, there will be more processing power away from the building. More people want to be mobile and have lightweight devices,’ he said.
‘My vision is for a handheld device that does everything – telephone, fax, WiFi. I don’t think that’s a difficult problem, we just have to get there.’
Tackling complexity and legacy IT
IT managers have an opportunity to evaluate other devices such as thin clients, to reduce the complexity of PC-based networking.
‘Thin client and anything that reduces complexity at the desktop has to be good,’ said George Grant, head of alliances at the National Housing Federation.
But Martin Wright, president of blue-chip user group The Corporate IT Forum (Tif), says the challenges of integrating legacy systems with new technology cannot be underestimated.
‘We have so much legacy and don’t know how to get rid of it,’ he said. ‘We ar e still struggling with legacy applications – one firm I worked with logged 900 applications in one particular business unit. How do they move to thin client? It is very difficult.’
Karl Deacon, chief technology officer at IT services firm Capgemini, says that up to 80 per cent of typical IT budgets can be spent on maintaining legacy systems. He says IT managers need to use industry standards to tackle the problem.
‘Open standards is the key technology that allows you to link to those legacy environments,’ he said.
‘It is about interoperability and finding common ways for things to talk to each other.
‘One of the main reasons why service-oriented architecture and Web 2.0 technologies are becoming so prevalent is because they are that foundation of open standards.
‘We are modularising and making things more interactive with each other, and we can’t hold back that tide. But it is a big challenge.’
Lewis Silkin’s Durant says chief information officers (CIOs) need to make users aware of the impact of requests to introduce new technologies.
‘You need a strong CIO who says: I know this new thing seems the answer to all your problems, but you can’t have it because it will cause us far more problems down the line. And to have that you need to have a trusted CIO in the business.’
Chris Cowsley, head of IT at Hitchin Boys’ School, says the problem can never entirely go away. ‘What is not legacy now will be legacy tomorrow,’ he said.
Green computing
When formulating a personal computing strategy, environmental issues have to be a major factor, say our panellists.
‘Green issues are becoming more and more important, with the focus on corporate social responsibility and the Weee directive, and issues such as that,’ said Freeform Dynamics’ Perry.
‘That takes you to power consumption, and the cost of recycling. There are a lot of PC screens being retired with a lot of nasty chemicals in, and we have to worry about how to dispose of those.’
The issue is particularly relevant in technology-intensive sectors such as financial services.
‘How do we get energy and power into data centres and to trading desks – there is just too much energy being used,’ said independent consultant John Brown.
‘A typical dealing room has 800 to 1,000 people in one room, with maybe three processors on each desk and five screens – and that is all energy. The building also has to get rid of that energy – it takes as much power to remove energy as it does to provide it.’
David Posner, chief executive of education IT consultancy Subtle Group, says PC vendors have to take a more responsible approach to power-hungry hardware.
‘When we look at the energy situation, I see a lot of bad selling, especially in the education sector,’ he said. ‘Lots of suppliers go in there and try to sell the highest specification they can, and teachers think this will make them future proof and that they need the biggest machine.
‘In truth, a lot of them just use Word and don’t use software that needs a lot of processing power, and they could buy a lower specification computer that is far cheaper, and get more systems for pupils for the same money. And the higher the specification, the more kilowatts it uses, and that is probably taking a lot more energy than a machine that will just do the job for you.’
Retaining control and security of IT
As users take more control over their personal computing, and increasingly work away from the office, the challenges of managing and securing their systems is a critical consideration in any strategy, says the panel.
But the danger is in going too far and being too controlling.
‘IT has to decide if we are the police or if we introduce standards,’ said Lewis Silkin’s Durant. ‘For example, if someone has an email attachment blocked for some reason, we are going to allow self-release, but we have to say to people: you have to be sensible because if you do something silly it’s your problem. It is not the IT department saying you can’t do this.’
Stan Smith, head of IT at the Institute of Education, says IT managers need to acknowledge that different approaches work for different users.
‘We draw lines in our organisations, we say that this is the basic standard for acceptable use, but that assumes people do the same things and so that is broadly acceptable,’ he said.
‘But many organisations don’t have one type of people in their staff, and people want more flexibility in the way they work, so we need a more flexible way to provide those signposts to show what is or isn’t safe, or to be aware of what you are doing.
‘At the moment that is too imprecise, and it means IT is seen as too inflexible and not understanding the needs of the organisation and individuals. We have to be creative with technology to do good stuff now and start to treat people in the organisation as individuals and free them to do what they want, with IT as an enabler not a barrier.’
Hitchin Boys’ School’s Chris Cowsley says IT has to take the lead in securing and managing personal computing.
‘IT is an enabling not a policing technology. And as part of enabling, we also protect,’ he said.
‘My clients just want it to work, but sometimes you have to educate them to what is going to work. If you don’t have a single point of leadership, then fragmentation will happen. If you have standards, it makes life easier, and the IT department is the standards for the company.’
reader comments