The months December through February usually see an uptick in press about predictions. It’s only natural – another year has passed, and a new one is upon us. And although we’re well into February, the predictions are still coming. Here’s what we’re reading this week:

The Top 20 Technology Driven Trends for 2012 (CIO Update)

Over at CIO Update, writer Daniel Burrus offers his list of the top 20 tech trends for the coming year and why CIOs should pay attention. Among them: the growth of big data; cloud computing; on-demand services, such as software as a service (SaaS) and hardware as a service (HaaS); virtualization; consumerization of IT (naturally); and “gamification.”

Read it and take notes.

In the case of companies that use gamification for employees, writes Gruman, it’s often to distract them from “the drudgery of their actual work.”

Gamification: The buzzword that can ruin your apps and business (InfoWorld) 

Speaking of “gamification,” my favorite blogger of the moment Galen Gruman takes a closer look at the trend and picks it apart in his usual manner.

The concept isn’t new, he asserts. It’s an old sales and marketing technique that simply has been repackaged. Entice (or “bribe,” as he describes it) customers with prizes and accolades to get them in the door when nothing else will. In the case of companies that use gamification for employees, he writes, it’s often to distract them from “the drudgery of their actual work.”

Gruman concedes that gamification has its merits – he cites one well-known company as an example. “Microsoft uses gamification to encourage non-QA staff to do bug testing and to get employees to contribute better language translations in its software localization efforts. People are rewarded for doing this extra work through ego-oriented motivations from managers (attaboy emails, temporary use of more convenient parking spaces, and in-house certificates) and by Read more…

Jenny Sweeney What We're Reading, Year in Review big data, CIO Update, Cloud Computing, Consumerization of IT, Daniel Burrus, FACEBOOK, Galen Gruman, Gmail, InfoWorld, Lem Lasher, predictions, ramification, SaaS

With school in session and the summer officially over, we thought it fitting to take a look at productivity for this week’s post.

Two articles stood out among the rest this week.

Bernard Golden looks beyond the buzzword to what BYOD will mean for the workplace.

The first, on CIO.com, reports on a recent study that found that employees who were permitted to surf the web were more productive than those who weren’t.

The study, conducted by the National University of Singapore, included 98 participants with an average age of 21, who were divided into three control groups. Each group either surfed the web for 10 minutes, did whatever they wanted during the time period except look at web pages, or performed the task of bundling sticks into groups of five. Read more…

Jenny Sweeney Consumerization of IT, What We're Reading, Worker Productivity Apple, BYOD, CIO.com, iPad, National University of Singapore, SAP

Though the Mayans predicted catastrophe for 2012, a smaller apocalypse may be happening in tech right now — one, the end of the PC era, and two, the “iPocalypse.”

In one study, 70 percent of respondents said they would give up alcohol to keep their iPhone.

In a blog post on GigaOm, Erica Ogg draws our attention Thursday’s announcement that PC giant HP is looking to sell its personal computing business, plus its tablet and smartphone operations. Ogg says it signals the end of the PC era, and she makes a compelling argument.

Read Ogg’s article here. Read more…

Jenny Sweeney Consumerization of IT, What We're Reading HP, iPad, iPhone, SAP

In 2005, PC World called the BlackBerry 850 (pictured, courtesy Blackberryline.com) the 14th greatest gadget of the past 50 years. Today, the BlackBerry creator, Research In Motion, is struggling to keep up with competitors like iPhone and Android.

The BlackBerry 850

How does a company fall from grace so quickly?

Jonathan S. Geller of Boy Genius Report (www.bgr.com) has an idea. In a recent article titled “Inside RIM: An exclusive look at the rise and fall of the company that made smartphones smart,” Geller takes a look at RIM’s history, including its personas and politics.

It’s an interesting inside look at how the iconic company evolved — and didn’t evolve when it missed product features and device trends like adding MP3 players and cameras to its phones.

Read the full article here.

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Consumerization — it’s a big word and an even bigger phenomenon. The fact that executives can’t do without their iPads and smartphones — even our nation’s chief executive carries Apple’s tablet — has changed the work climate; increasingly, IT shops are allowing all employees to bring their devices to work.

But concerns remain, mostly about security, and also about software compatibility. Here’s a look at some of the recent news regarding consumerization of IT:

A look at some of the recent news regarding consumerization of IT.

Top Security Nightmares: Privately Owned iPhones, iPads and Other Mobile Devices (by Tim Greene, Network World)

IPhones, iPads and other employee-owned mobile gear are the most risky devices that can be connected to corporate networks, according to a new survey by ISACA, an international user group devoted to providing benchmarks and guidance for technology best practices. According to the survey, 58% of respondents saying mobile gear represent the greatest risk to the enterprise. That beats out any work-supplied devices including smartphones, laptops, notebooks, tablets and flash drives, which combined were the top fear of just 33%. Despite this fear, 49% of respondents say their companies have up-to-date mobile security policies that are well communicated to the staff. Another 32% say they have such policies but they need to be updated and the staff made aware of them. Read more…

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At last Wednesday’s Apple event announcing the iPad 2, Steve Jobs kept referring to something he calls the “Post-PC world.” This new era of computing, according to online tech publication Engadget, “won’t be a debate about displays, memory, wireless options — it will be a debate about the quality of the experience.”

This is part of the Post-PC experience we’d all like to block out: Setting up new devices or troubleshooting misbehaving ones.

This edition of What We’re Reading focuses on just that: The experience. Read on…

“It’s Apple’s ‘Post-PC’ World — We’re All Just Living In It” (Engadget, 3/3/2011)

As mentioned in the intro, Jobs introduced Read more…

Jenny Sweeney Mobile Devices, tablets, What We're Reading computerworld, Engadget, Harris Interactive, iPad 2, PC World, Steve Jobs, tech support, Wall Street Journal

Are your staffers itching to use their iPhones and iPads in the workplace? Before you flat-out say “no,” consider that personal devices will not be disappearing from the workplace anytime soon. (Recently, a Gartner VP promised that the iPad would be a “market-disrupting device” and warned that the cost of inaction to IT departments would be high.)

Is the iPad a revolution in productivity or just a thorn in IT's side?

In a recent blog post for Forbes.com, CITO Research’s Dan Woods explains how to say “’yes’ without creating a mess.” Woods taps PC Helps’ very own CEO, Brian Madocks, for advice.

In his post, Woods takes a look at what the consumerization of IT means in practice, and offers up a “playbook” for IT:

1. Don’t just say no to “bring your own technology” or employee-preferred devices:
   Writes Woods: “Show some leadership and help figure out how to get it right so that the company is protected and the users are happy.”
2. Listen to the end users:
   Ask your employees how they want to use the devices and formulate a set of guidelines that meet both IT’s and the workers’ needs.
3. Research and test your approach:
   Don’t just roll out BYOT to the entire company; start small, with a pilot that includes a mix of user types. Use the knowledge gained for a broader roll out.
4. Document and communicate a clear set of policies and guidelines for end users:
   We all need rules. Come up with a set both IT and end-users can live with and abide by.
5. Plan for a more complex support burden:
   Questions such as synching corporate mail and calendars will come up, and often. Be sure you have a support plan and trained staff ready to handle every type of query.
6. Don’t rely on device manufacturers for support of your end users:
   AppleCare will not help you synch your mail, and they really don’t care if you are on a deadline.
7. Prepare your help desk for the task:
   According to Woods: “Mixed device environments require specialization and expertise, as well as ongoing training and skill-building. Your existing help desk staff may need to be retrained, expanded, or supplemented.”

Read the full article here.

Jenny Sweeney iPad, Mobile Devices, tablets, What We're Reading Brian Madocks, BYOT, Consumerization of IT, Forbes.com, Gartner, PC Helps

Although the new devices debuting at the Consumer Electronics Show are dominating tech news this week, we came across two articles about the state of the help desk that warrant mention. The first, from Computerworld, reports that help desk calls in business are increasing; the second, that university students and faculty are sorely lacking in skills to get their tech problems solved quickly and efficiently. Read on:

In Computerworld, writer Patrick Thibodeau reports on a recent study conducted by the Help Desk Institute (HDI), in which researchers found that calls to the help desk increased for the second year in a row.

Some university help desk services need a technological makeover.

Thibodeau says researchers point to a number of factors that could be contributing to the increase: a multiplatform workplace, a more centralized help desk and thus better recordkeeping, complicated software upgrades, increasing awareness of help desk services, etc.

He quotes HDI analyst Roy Atkinson, who points to the fact that IT complexity is increasing, especially as users seek to connect multiple devices, including mobile phones, tablets and laptops to corporate networks. Read more…

Jenny Sweeney What We're Reading Bomgar, HDI, Help Desk, Mobile Devices

As always, the last few weeks of the year are reserved for retrospection. This is the time of year when we make resolutions for better living, all while reading the endless Best Ofs and Top 10s courtesy the media, niche and mainstream. We aren’t going to offer a standard Top 10 in this post, nor are we going to come up with any flimsy resolutions; we’re just going to take a look at what the business tech world’s been yapping about all year.

“The iPad is becoming, in effect, a jumbo BlackBerry.”

If there were three main themes this year in tech, they were this:

• The consumerization of IT/BYO tech
• Enterprise domination by iPads and tablets
• The increasing use of mobile devices for business and the growing need for specialized mobile IT support

Here’s a look at some recent bookmark-worthy articles that touch upon these topics: Read more…

Jenny Sweeney Android, BlackBerry, Cloud Computing, iPad, iPhone, Mobile Devices, What We're Reading, Year in Review Montreal Gazette, Network World

Remember when the recession began, when business suddenly fixated on “doing more with less” and placed maximized productivity up there next to godliness?

This is where it got us: 3G service on Mt. Everest.

“Mobility is one line item in the IT budget that’s held steady or grown over the last three years…”

In today’s PC World magazine, Brennon Slattery reports that Nepalese telecom firm Ncell has installed 3G service at 17,000 feet on Mt. Everest. Cynics complain that the iconic peak will now be ruined (a quote from Slattery’s article, “Great — people yakking on their cell phone on the roof of the world”). But optimists point to its benefits to climbers (they can keep in touch with tour guides, call for help, and access weather reports and safety information).

Whether 3G service is necessary on Everest is open for debate, but mobility in the workplace is not. Here’s what the industry pubs are saying: Read more…

Jenny Sweeney iPad, Mobile Devices, What We're Reading, Worker Productivity 3G, Apple, Gartner, iPad, Mt. Everest, Nepal, Orlando, Salesforce.com