In a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, Ben Worthen writes, "Many IT groups have banned the iPhone from their workplaces, complaining that there is no way to force employees to protect their iPhones with passwords and that they can't erase sensitive corporate data from remote locations if the device is stolen or lost. Additionally, they say the iPhone doesn't support the software many businesses use and that it only works on one cellular carrier's network.

"But keeping the iPhone out of the office may be a losing battle. As a result, some technology experts say the iPhone could usher in a change in the way businesses adopt new technologies."

Attitudes like these show an utter contempt for the real purpose of IT and a misunderstanding of IT's role in a business. IT control freaks will not last because they miss the point: IT exists to support the business, not to decide what's allowed and what's not. Control isn't the point. Managing risk is.

The comment that IT staff are upset with the iPhone because they can't "force employees to protect their iPhones with passwords" sums it up quite well. How did we get this far from the real purpose?

Instead, IT should be working with staff to help them understand the importance of protecting corporate assets, the value in doing so, and the mechanisms for doing so. Mindshare is the goal, not enforcement. Forcing users into limitations that they don't want to accept never works, and it gives the illusion of security and compliance where none actually exists.

The iPhone is a perfect example. In most organizations that claim to limit iPhone use, there are iPhone users. Are they low-level employees with limited access to sensitive corporate information? Or are they senior executives who can do pretty much what they want?

You can answer that as well as I can.

Instead of living in a false sense of security, IT's job is finding ways to make the most productive options work well for the sake of the company's competitive advantage. Let go of the control and find ways to make staff happy and productive.

It's the right thing to do.

Posted by Stephen Hultquist on April 1, 2008 05:03 PM