Consumerization of IT: an example

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Over the last 2 years or so (here and here for example), I have been discussing how consumer grade IT services might/will be used as part of enterprise IT, Gartner even says that Consumerization Will Be Most Significant Trend Affecting IT During Next 10 Years.

Today, Eugenio pointed me to a blog entry from our mutual friend EdJez describing how the IT environment of his company (a non-profit small org) is mostly (entirely?) handled through cloud infrastructure, free service and desktop software. Very interesting read.

Of course, there is a HUGE difference between a small non-profit and a Global 1000 company in terms of requirements, risk tolerance etc. but IMO Ed's blog post is nevertheless interesting for any sized company.

Also interesting is Ed's "wish list" at the end:

  • Offline access
  • Unified authentication
  • Support for Integration

as well as his last comment:

I'd like to see more sites view themselves as 'building blocks' -- as part of a larger solution instead of trying to be the 'one stop shop'. Data, process, and UI integration APIs are always welcome.

All of this very much in line with was has been discussed in this blog and S+S strategy in general.

Thanks Ed for sharing and keep up the good work.