If you’ve been playing along when your colleagues discuss it, pretending you know what they are talking about, these two recent online features will save you from any future awkward business conversations.

Two sites offer a comprehensive look at the IT consumerization trend.

The first is an easily digestible, 15-minute animated video from Microsoft. With interviews from people on the street and Microsoft techies, the video covers everything consumerization, from definitions and history to security and compliance concerns. If you don’t like cutesy cartoons, the page has links to six documents including two Forrester reports and a FAQ.

Watch the video here.

The other feature is a debate between two techies, Orin Thomas and Mike Resseler, and it’s a little brainier.

Thomas, a contributing editor for WindowsITPro.com and a Windows Security MVP, believes consumerization is just a fad. He offers a chair analogy as evidence:

“So there’s the point that people are less willing to spend their hard earned dollars on buying a computer to take into the office each day when their workplace will provide them with a computer anyway. If I may make an indirect analogy — think about office chairs. There is probably nothing stopping people buying their own office chair rather than using the one that is given to them by their organization. Most organizational office chairs are rubbish. Because I spend a lot of time writing at home, I got myself an Aeron. An Aeron costs less than most well specced laptops. Yet we don’t see many office workers who spend 9-5 in the same cheap company chair springing to buy themselves something slightly better for their posture and comfort.”

Thomas continues: “The consumerization of IT is sort of like replacing your office chair with a better one — it sort of makes sense (I’d certainly do it if I was spending 9-5 behind a desk in an office) — but the vast majority of people won’t do it because they’re unwilling to spend extra dollars to get something that their company will provide for them anyway.”

Resseler disagrees and offers four reasons why:

1. With his tablet, he does more work in less time.

2. Organizations are starting to understand the importance of spending time with family and friends. Consumerization encourages increased productivity, thus allowing more time spent with loved ones.

3. “Organizations will want to keep control over all of these devices,” he says. “A strategy that brings in these devices themselves will be much cheaper for them than allowing the users to bring in whatever device they want.”

4. There will always be users who can afford and bring in their own devices. “Instead of creating jealousy and investing to control only a few ‘gadgets,’” he explains, “organizations will want to create an entire policy around it and provide it to all the users that need it (or simply can use it).”

Read the full debate here.

We think the FAQ is a wonderful thing. But a FAQ cannot stand on its own.

As reported on recently by CIO.com’s Shane O’Neill, the Forrester report outlines four pitfalls to avoid during upgrades: underestimating compatibility issues, leaving workers to figure out the migration with no assistance, assuming workers will use the software’s new features, and neglecting to emphasize peer-to-peer learning.

Here’s what we’ve been saying:

On compatibility issues

We couldn’t agree more. Your company needs to have a plan in place before the migration begins to handle compatibility issues.

As with any new or changed software, incompatibility with prior versions may require users to manually rework documents. Compatibility of versions has been a focus for Microsoft over the years, and improves with every new release, but users don’t always follow the best practices when creating documents, and end up with versions which are not automatically converted with an upgrade.

Files received from outside the organization in older formats may not open properly and need some rework or, sometimes, may need to be resent. Files with links, Access databases (especially if they integrate with other systems or use extensive code), and custom animations in older PowerPoint versions may be corrupted or impacted by compatibility issues. In cases where users have documents they regularly use, often containing complex formulas or formatting, and which need to be updated to the new versions, there can be a significant amount of time spent on reformatting and recreating documents.

On making workers handle the migration with no support

The “ribbon” and other new aspects of the Office 2007 interface reflect major changes in the look and feel of the core Office applications. In Office 2010, these differences carry forward and are coupled with the incorporation of the ribbon into Outlook, impacting usability of this critical communications application.

We think the FAQ is a wonderful thing. It tells your employees what to expect from a migration, and answers the most commonly asked questions. But a FAQ cannot stand on its own.

User confusion and frustration is almost guaranteed when attempting to learn and work with the ribbon for the first time. Basic functions that were performed without effort in the past, such as opening and closing files, managing day-to-day calendar and meeting entries, and applying formats, require a relearning process with the new application versions. For some users, relearning these basic functions is fairly straightforward, and for others it takes a more effort and help. More complex tasks in PowerPoint, Excel, Word or Access often require a combination of training and support in the migration process.

Bolster it with a dedicated migration staff to help workers through a migration/upgrade.

On assuming employees will find and know how to use enhanced or new features in Office 2010

Don’t make assumptions. You know the old saying.

For example, if someone using Excel 2010 for the first time doesn’t know about the new functions, he will not necessarily seek them out. A good how-to tech can show him a SUMIFS formula, for example, which is one of the newbies. Sure beats the 2003 alternative of using arrays or helper columns.

On not emphasizing peer-to-peer learning

Finally, Forrester’s fourth pitfall, not emphasizing peer-to-peer learning, is one we’re split on. CIO’s O’Neill suggests using wikis and discussion groups to share best practices. It’s a great idea, but we know from experience what happens often with peer-to-peer: it’s called shadow support, or tapping the “office guru,” and it turns the downtime of one worker into downtime for two, which can cost a company dearly. A better alternative is to outsource to a company that specializes in Office 2010. The cost savings and downtime avoidance are significant. (See a previous blog post, “Efficiency Redux.”)

When scaled across an entire company, misprinted print jobs cost a corporation dearly.

Sure, big picture savings are great. But the best way to approach recession survival is by starting small. Although an extra printout or two may seem minuscule, when scaled across an entire company, misprinted print jobs cost a corporation dearly.

In the spirit of frugality, here are two PC Helps tips published by IT World that promise printing efficiency.

1. How to Master Excel Spreadsheet Printing
2. How to Create a New Print Style in Outlook

Enjoy, and print responsibly. Got any efficiency tips? Send them our way.

MORE INFO IN: Desktop Application Support | Contact PC Helps

You had better get it together. The heavies are starting to weigh in.

Resistance is futile, says one CIO. The iPhone is the most popular handheld device available.

Last month, Forrester Research released findings from a study that said IT departments are moving closer to supporting all mobile device platforms. Although BlackBerry (upwards of 60 percent) and Windows Mobile (40 percent) still take the lead, according to the study, one out of four companies now supports iPhones.

The only thing holding the iPhone back from catching up is its so-so security, which remains a big concern for CIOs. (There’s also that pesky issue of AT&T’s spotty coverage. But that’s for another time.)

Security doesn’t seem to be the main issue if you look at the results of a recent TechRepublic poll, which asked 300 CIOs if they support the iPhone, and their reasons for doing so or not doing so. TR editor in chief Jason Hiner posted the results on his blog and the findings have at least one common thread: The iPhone is still viewed as a personal “gadget,” and thus has no place in the enterprise.

Among the CIOs who said they do support the iPhone, the device’s potential to increase productivity was noted. One CIO pointed out that use of the device by traveling execs has decreased VPN support considerably. Another IT manager gushed about how the iPhone is less of a support hassle than other mobile devices.

By far, the two best quotes in Hiner’s piece are:

1. “We have found that resistance is futile. The iPhone is the most popular handheld device available. It has the best mobile browser and our sysadmins say it is a great device for remote systems administration.”
2. A second CIO stated that his company’s move to support the iPhone has resulted in a “decrease in the perception that IT is a wet blanket that is an impediment to the use of consumer-friendly products.”

Keep in mind, however, that supporting mobile devices such as the iPhone will not be without a few headaches for your IT department. According to a March 2009 study conducted by Zenprise Inc., downtime will be a key issue as the use of smart phones in the enterprise increases. (For more on downtime, read “Going Mobile.”) Because the majority of users are higher-profile employees, such as senior and middle managers, the downtime has a greater effect on the bottom line.

MORE INFO IN: Mobile Device Support | Coverage of PC Helps’ iPhone support in Computerworld.com | Contact PC Helps

Forrester researcher Sheri McLeish surveyed 152 IT leaders, and found that 80 percent of enterprise customers are still using some version of Microsoft Office, and a meager 8 percent are using alternatives such as Google Premier Apps, Sun StarOffice and Lotus Symphony.

And despite all the hype surrounding cloud computing, Forrester reports that a majority of companies surveyed have plans to upgrade to Office 2007 instead of trying out the alternatives. Fourteen percent plan an upgrade in the next six months, 27 percent in the next year, and 26 percent in the next two years.

According to a new Forrester research report, Microsoft Office is here to stay, at least for a while.

Which begs the question: If you are among the firms that will be upgrading, do you have a migration plan in place?

If not, you had better get on it. A migration to Office 2007 will be like no other. It’s a radically different interface, which will stump even the most experienced users.

For more detailed information on how to plan a successful migration, check out the list of related posts below:

• Office 2007 Migration Road Map: Separate myth from reality before choosing a migration partner.
• Office 2007 Migration Readiness Kit:  All you need for a snag-free switchover. Download it now.
• Learn to Love the Ribbon: How will an overall decrease in productivity affect your company’s numbers? In a word, nightmarishly.
• Real Life Help Desk Tales — Love, Hate & Office 2007: How not to waste your whopping software investment.

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