IT’s Seven Worst Addictions (And How To Cure Them)

Dan Tynen wrote an interesting article in InfoWorld on IT’s worst addictions. I want to share an excerpt of this article with you. Please read the full article if you can spare the time.

Devoting my business life to interpret between IT and business (and the rest of mankind) I can only agree with what he says about jargon, power, data, old methods and some of the other addictions and delusions:

IT Addictions. Image at www.saycampuslife.com

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Are you a jargon junkie? Got an insatiable appetite for information? Do you rule over your company’s systems with an iron fist, unwilling to yield control until someone pries the keyboard from your cold, dead hands?

You’re going to have to face it – you’re addicted to tech. It’s not an uncommon problem, but it can lead to bad decisions, lost productivity, wasted money, and data breaches, to name just a few downsides.

Cloud Computing: From Designer Clothes To Prêt-à-Porter

Image via Wikipedia

Today I read the June issue of the “Informatik Spektrum” (Organ of the German Informatics Society). It has a contribution by Prof. Gunter Dueck titled “Cloudwirbel” (cloud vortex). Gunter Dueck regularly publishes a column in this periodical under the header “DUECK-ß-INSIDE, many with a good sense of humor. Here a few of his thoughts on the future of cloud computing:

• Cloud Computing is growing extremely fast but the press is repeating the argument that it is only a hype and that it is not secure
• The textile industry adapted to the fact that washing machines will wash with 30˚, 60˚, 90˚C (in Fahrenheit this reads cold, warm, hot) and produces fabrics accordingly
• Industry around the car provided an opportunity for companies like Carglass, Pit-Stop etc. They pick the easy tasks from car maintenance (batteries, tires, exhaust, brake shoes, windows), offer these for a very competitive price and leave the complex stuff to the other garages
• We are observing similar trends in the medical field where semi-automatized labs perform immunizations, blood tests, dental checkups at low-cost
• IT has this kind of revolution still ahead of itself. IT professionals will fight this development since it will cost some of their jobs
• Industrialization will come to IT. Services will come with price tags. CFO’s will look at public clouds and ask why the own IT is so much more expensive
• Pay-per-use will allow to rent an application for one-time usage at a fraction of cost
• The cultural shock: IT will turn into a self-service store or mall offering apps with price tags

He finishes the article by quoting himself at a recent podium discussion: “Make up your mind and invest the extraordinary amount of EUR 10.- to order a full computer in a cloud and try it out. Make contact with this ‘extraterrestrial,’ feel how secure or insecure it feels once your data are up there. Feels similar to e-Banking? Stop with the Angst! Be prepared.”