CIO Magazine today published my latest article for IT professionals “Why You Should Stop Worrying and Let End Users Have iPads.” (note: free site registration may be required to read the full article)

The editors at CIO agreed with me that a big change is happening in “enterprise IT.”  User technology is now so cheap, and good, that employees no longer depend upon corporate IT to provide them with their productivity tools.  When you can buy a smartphone for $100, and a tablet for $500, increasingly users are happy to supply their own, private, productivity tools rather than try using something they find larger, heavier and harder to use from their boss — and also something which they’ve been told for years should not have personal items on it.

The serious impact is that increasingly the users feel “burdened” by corporate IT.  They become less accessible as they leave the company laptop at work – and shut off the company Blackberry after work hours.  They complain about the inefficiency of corporate tools, while using personal phones and tablets to do internet searches, access networks for fast info sharing (Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in), and generally find greatest productivity by ignoring technology supplied by employers.  Often tehnology that is incredibly expensive.

Leading companies are taking advantage of this trend, and supplying the latest devices to employees.  They recognize that greatest good comes not from “controlling” employee technology use.  Rather, productivity is greatly enhanced by encouraging employees to take advantage of newest technology in the course of their work.  Thus, leaders are providing iPhones and iPads, and giving access to Facebook and YouTube through the company network.

The world of IT shifts fast.  Changes in IT have often seperated winners from losers.  IT leaders have to change their mindsets if they want to help their companies profitably grow.  And the first step is giving users technology they want, rather than technology they too often despise.

You can also access this article by clicikng on links to the following journals:

• at Network World 
• at IT World
• at PC Advisor
• at Computerworld
• at ComputerWorldNZ

I look forward to your opinion about this topic! Do you think IT departmernts are slow to react to new tools?  Do you think the new tools are “enterprise ready?” Do you think the advantages of newer techbnology outweigh potential IT risks?  Drop comments here, or on the article pages!  Love to hear what others think