business

This morning, Farhad Manjoo's column in Slate Magazine argued that corporate computers should be "unchained": that workers should be allowed to run any chat programs they wanted on there, and be allowed to use any kind of software, because it will allow them to choose the suite that will make them most productive.

Manjoo's argument is naive, and it ignores the realities of corporate IT. He gives the average end user far too much credit. He assumes that people are only playing on the internet to clear their heads for a few minutes before getting back to work, and only using websites and tools that increase productivity and are not infected with malware. There are some end users who are diligent, and will follow this ideal. However, there are many who will not. And, there are some end users who think they are being diligent, but are sufficiently unfamiliar with internet threats that they think they are downloading legitimate software for work, but are instead introducing malware onto their computers. In the balance, allowing anything and everything to load or run on a corporate computer will be far more likely to burden the network with malicious software than cause the renaissance of productivity that Manjoo envisions.

However, even though Manjoo's proposed solution is overbroad, he does raise a good point that IT staffs should take to heart. Sometimes, there is more than one legitimate option for getting a job done. It does get frustrating, as an employee, to be unable to use battle-tested, job-relevant software because IT has not installed it on the company's systems. (Having previously worked as an attorney in a large law firm, I know this all too well.) Allowing employees to install whatever they want whenever they want is not the answer. Instead, this should be a call to IT departments everywhere to take the time to assess the software available to employees, stay in touch with employees relative to their software needs, and continue to explore options frequently cited by employees as ones that would improve their productivity at work. It is folly to allow untested software on a corporate network. On the other hand, if members of the IT department consistently tested and evaluated software frequently requested by employees, and implemented the options that proved themselves sufficiently secure, realistic to administer, and productivity-enhancing, then there is hope for enhanced employee productivity and strong network security to coexist.

(Hat tip to Ben Tomhave for turning my attention to this article.)