Some news in SC Magazine caught my eye:
Businesses are failing to boost productivity by preventing wireless internet access to visitors due to security concerns, new research shows.
This is just the sort of crass reporting that really gets my goat. Firstly, the organisation performing the research in this instance is a WiFi provider so it's not exactly a neutral viewpoint they are coming from. Secondly the quoted Managing Director of Guestbridge is one of their customers and thirdly, the article says that they sought the views of IT workers - well, I'm sorry to say this but just about everyone I know in IT will say that we need to have the fastest, newest, shiniest, technology without a thought for whether it's actually of any use or not. Me included (and support - if you are reading this, please can I have one of those new shiney things that goes beep, before it becomes obselete?).
Now I can tell you that the reason there is no wireless in Corporate Towers (the office I'm based in) is absolutely none of those listed in the article - and while 23% of the HR department polled suggested that they suspect it might be useful if a guest turns up with a laptop computer expecting unlimited Internet access at our expense, the corporate management decided that we'll make them endure the horrid incoveniance of having to plug in a nasty cable. And do you know what: I'm not sure that our productivity has dropped by a single percent as a result. But the productivity of our IT support certainly would if they have to spend all their time running after VIP guests who want to check their Hotmail accounts from the comfort of the reception area and wonder why they are viewing the Intranet system of the company next door.
I'm astute enough to know that having wireless can be conveniant for visitors. We have a number of business units that do have wireless and offer guest access. In fact, as an organisation we've done a good deal of research into wireless and associated security - providing campus wide solutions and being early adopters of new technology. But does it increase productivity? Perhaps the missing 12% from The Cloud's research might be able to tell us (check the numbers).