Should Employees Buy Their Own Computers? 498
Local ID10T writes
"Data security vs. productivity. We have all heard the arguments. Most of us use some of our personal equipment for work, but is it a good idea? 'You are at work. Your computer is five years old, runs Windows XP. Your company phone has a tiny screen and doesn't know what the internet is. Idling at home is a snazzy, super-fast laptop, and your own smartphone is barred from accessing work e-mail. There's a reason for that: IT provisioning is an expensive business. Companies can struggle to keep up with the constant rate of technological change. The devices employees have at home and in their pockets are often far more powerful than those provided for them. So what if you let your staff use their own equipment?' Companies such as Microsoft, Intel, Kraft, Citrix, and global law firm SNR Denton seem to think it's a decent idea."
Re:Good for everybody but the IT guy? (Score:5, Informative)
Did you read the article? Or maybe even skim it? Instead of basing your comment entirely off the summary?
In particular:
Staff taking advantage of the scheme must buy a three-year service contract. "From that point forth the device is their responsibility, and not that of the company," adds Mr Hollison. "We don't asset manage it in any way. "If they want to fill it full of photos and videos of their children, they're free to do so, because the connection back to Citrix is securely in the data centre.
So they're not running any business apps on their laptop, that's all at the dc on their citrix setup. They're also responsible for maintaining their own gear. Sorry, what was your argument again?
Re:Good for everybody but the IT guy? (Score:2, Informative)
Fixed that for you.
Re:Personal Life Separation (Score:5, Informative)
I would get all the benefits of missing out on my family AND could proudly say I wasn't a slave. Your suggestion doesn't solve the problem that you think it does. The problem is when work takes part of your personal life without offering a reasonable exchange. The fact is that work life by it's very nature is taking away from your personal life. If you have an employer that doesn't respect your personal life, they are not going to respect it when you separate work from personal. All you will end up with is less personal life, because you are still going to have to do the work. So, the only way to keep them separate is to not include any personal.
The total separation of work and personal life is dandy for those that don't really want to interact with their spouse or children. Me, I like mine.
Re:Virus (Score:5, Informative)
I haven't tried American 'jelly' but I presume it's some form of jam or marmalade
In American, jelly, jam, and marmalade all refer to different fruit-based things that are spread on toast. Jelly is completely smooth, jam contains seeds, marmalade contains peel.
Re:Virus (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Personal Life Separation (Score:2, Informative)
The total separation of work and personal life is dandy for those that don't really want to interact with their spouse or children. Me, I like mine.
What a false dichotomy. Separating work and personal life doesn't mean becoming a cubicle rat -- it means understanding boundaries. My home computer and personal cell are much newer, nicer, and faster than my crappy work-issued Pentium M laptop and Blackberry 8300. But when I'm working (and 4 out of 5 days -- that's at home) I use my work-issued ones, and my personal devices are left idle. On those work issued machines, the company can tell me whatever policies they want and I won't care. They want me to run a bloated, full-blown "security" suite, plus TWO custom auditing scanners? Fine -- their system; their policy -- I don't care. They want to see and audit my phone calls and texts and data on my Blackberry? Sure, go ahead -- again, they paid for it and the phone plan -- so I don't care if they want to check how I use it.
But when my work day is over (which is strictly 9-5), those shitty devices are put away and my personal devices get used exclusively. When I take the family out to dinner, or an outting, or vacation, I have no contact with work, and I get to enjoy using own laptop and cell. And no one ever gets to tell me what to install on them, or how I may use them.
I honestly do not see ANY benefit to using my own devices (assuming all else being equal) instead of the company-issued ones.