The corporate IT revolution is happening – just without IT

In an example of timely thinking, Accenture has released a report which tallies with my recent revisit to how the IT departments of most companies need to radically change to meet the needs of a very different and constantly changing environment. My original post ‘IT could lead the revolution‘ and ‘Still waiting for the IT revolution‘ both talked about how users, particularly in a creative environment, need to find ways to implement new technology quickly and efficiently – often in the face of restrictive IT policies.

And then ReadWriteWeb covered the Accenture report  with ‘Millennials Will Route Around IT Departments‘.

Some key points:

  • More than a third of Millennials also indicated that they were dissatisfied with the technologies their employers currently provide.
  • Over a quarter of the employees surveyed by Accenture to use technology that is unsupported and unsanctioned by their corporate IT departments.
  • Almost half of all Millennials who use social networks, blogs, vlogs, or Twitter do so without support from their IT departments (and often against the IT policies of their companies).
  • A quarter of those who use online collaboration tools and open-source software also do so without support.
  • 60% of the employees surveyed by Accenture argue that they are unaware of their companies’ IT policies or that they are simply not interested in following them.
  • Over half of the respondents in this study (52%) said that a company’s use of technology was a major factor when they select an employer.

Add in the fact the survey also reinforces the shift away from email as the primary form of electronic communication, and it’s clear that the revolution is happening. It’s just that in most cases, companies aren’t listening, and are investing in the wrong areas.

Listening pleasure and Twitter earnings…

I received a good response after yesterday post on Virgin Radio becoming Absolute Radio…thanks to everyone that Stumbled, Dugg, or Twittered it, or came along and had a look.

I must have audio on my mind, because although I’m not a huge fan of podcasts, there are a couple I felt I should mention.  I’ve never been a fan of talk radio, so I never really gave podcasts as much of a chance as I probably should have done – especially with a commute that’s done in about 20 minutes.

But maybe that’s partly down to hearing subjects I want to actually listen to – until podcasts it was reserved for the vary occasional audio biography or documentary about my favourite musicians.

Now I’m spending a lot of time walking around comforting a young child, podcasts make a lot of sense – and the fact they’re devoted to technology, social media, public relations, or any interest I want to indulge unsurprisingly makes them rather enjoyable.

They aren’t exactly unknown, but I’ll recommend the collection of series at Twit.tv and For Immediate Release: The Hobson and Holtz report as two I’ve been enjoying immensely. Twit (This Week In Tech) is an enjoyable round table around whatver has cropped up in the course of the week – and after a couple of weeks I’ve even warmed to the constantly grumpy John C Dvorak.

Meanwhile, For Immediate Release (FIR) is far more focused on the likes of Public Relations and Technology. It also features a Transatlantic partnership between two people I’ve followed in text for a while, Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson.

The irony being that there’s a huge, huge difference between the style of Twit and FIR. Twit host Leo Laporte is far more…’American’ in his presenting style (not saying that’s good or bad), whereas FIR is far more relaxed and akin to a Radio 4 programme. I’m becoming a big fan of both shows – but I can’t imagine any analogue, or even digital radio station likely to play two shows at such stylistic difference to each other – let alone one after the other as I sometimes do!

(Bearing in mind I use my laptop for listening to more and more Podcasts, anyone with autoplaying music, or any video or advert that autoplays on your website or blog is instantly registered as annoying… please don’t. And in case someone spots that type of advert on a Bauer Media site – I don’t book the adverts, I’ve registered my feelings strongly on several occasions, and I don’t pretend to speak for everyone!)

I doubt I’ll be making the jump to audio any time soon – my last foray into video was shamefully wooden.But I am continuing to balance two blogs on top of my day job. You can see my latest thoughts on microblogging – particularly the new Twitter advertising site, Twittads, at www.140char.com.

Make your website simpler, easier, faster, better…

There’s a difference between successful new technologies and websites, and ones which fail.

All the successes are able to answer a problem, or solve an existing one, in a simpler, easier, faster way than before. If what you’re planning needs explaining in more than a sentence, or needs instruction for a consumer/visitor to use, then it’s probably not quite right. After all, if someone came to your house for a meal, would you expect to have to explain how to use the doors, use the stairs, go to the toilet, flush the toilet, and walk down the stairs again?

If you need a comprehensive take on this…or a handy reminder, see ‘Don’t Make Me Think’ on the book list, right…it’s full of things you might forget in the excitement of site building.

This was brought home to me for the umpteenth time today when I went to the doctors. I’m sure many people have already seen this with their doctor, but when I went in, I was amazed to find that I no longer had to queue for ages to speak to a receptionist to tell them that I had made the trip from my bed to doctor’s surgery without accidentally ending up in the pub.

Instead, I just had to type my sex and birthday on a touchscreen, and in return I got a personalised welcome, plus a rough idea of the current delay between my appointment and the time I’d be seen.

It saves a line, it saves receptionist time (which means they can be doing more complex tasks), and it gives me a rough idea of whether I can nip to the loo or not before my appointment….

Don’t overlook the human element

It’s easy to grab the opportunities a new widget, website or technological advance offers.

But don’t overlook the human resources needed to make it work properly