Technology & Innovation

Power to the people?

September 23, 2009

Africa

September 23, 2009

Africa
Our Editors

The Economist Intelligence Unit

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The report examines how companies can respond to the grass-root challenges from employees to the IT status quo

Power to the people? Managing technology democracy in the workplace is an Economist Intelligence Unit white paper, sponsored by Trend Micro.

Technology changes are often accompanied by fanfare, but in recent years at least one quiet technology revolution has been developing in the workplace. Individuals are adopting for work use the applications and devices they have learned to use in their personal lives. Applications previously accessed only on home computers, such as wikis and social networking sites, now appear on business PCs. Nearly every employee is now equipped with a personal mobile device and can become an online publisher with the help of blogs. As a result, employees are challenging the technology status quo in their organisation. Many are demanding “technology democracy”—greater freedom to use the information technology (IT) applications and devices of their choice in order to conduct their work more effectively.
Companies are not entirely ready for this development. In Europe, many firms resist the notion of according greater technology choice to employees and business units. Just under one-half—48%—of respondents to an Economist Intelligence Unit survey of European executives conducted for this study say that management of their firms is supportive of expanding technology freedom at the grassroots level, but virtually the same number, 47%, say the opposite. On a hopeful note, executives tend to see more opportunity than risk to their business from this development. Nonetheless, the use of new IT tools goes on at many firms without clear IT guidelines and proper training. In their absence, business risks are likely to increase for these firms.
This pressure from below on company management and the IT function will to continue to mount. Generation Y, also known as the “millennials”, is populating the workforce in increasing numbers, and it will not be long before they begin advancing to middle management positions. Increasingly reliant on social media, messaging and other personal networking technologies to conduct their work, this generation will challenge the established modes of IT management in organisations.
Other key findings from the research are highlighted below.

  • Innovation and morale stand most to benefit from technology freedom. Over 40% of European executives are prepared to deal with the risks of technology democracy in order to reap its business benefits. The chief gains, they believe, will come in the form of better grassroots innovation, as well as higher morale on the part of employees who are trusted to make at least some technology decisions for themselves.
  • The risks are real but can be managed. The fears of executives who resist according greater technology freedom in their firms are not misplaced. No few employees have wasted valuable work time using Web 2.0 applications for personal purposes, and companies have been damaged by sensitive information appearing on blogs, for example. Survey respondents agree that the biggest risks from technology democracy are lower productivity, the loss of confidential information and an increased vulnerability to viruses.
  • Keeping technology chaos in check requires clear rules. Where any degree of democracy exists, technology freedom must be supported by clear rules and regulations to prevent a descent into chaos. The most important means of minimising productivity loss and security risks include conducting regular and mandatory training courses for employees, developing formal guidelines and continuing the work of upgrading network defences.
  • Firms must provide better training on using new technologies. Most executives in the survey claim that their firms have drafted IT policies to govern employees’ use of devices, applications and websites in the workplace. But few have begun to instil these guidelines in the minds of employees: no more than 21% of surveyed firms provide training on the use of personal communications devices, and only 17% do this in regard to social networking applications. More worryingly, no more than one-fifth have plans to do so in the future.
  • Some IT decentralisation may be needed to manage the security risks. When asked their view on the implications of greater technology freedom for the IT function, survey respondents’ reply that the delegation of responsibility for information security to individual business units is the most likely outcome. This would allow the IT function to focus on other tasks, such as the management of firewalls and other aspects of physical network security and tracking new external threats.

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