Mine for opportunity

This is not a company laptop I'm writing this on - it's mine. And the phone? That's mine too. I decide what IT and communications platforms to use for business, and the IT department has to live with it.

The above approach is the same as millions of UK workers, and this comparatively new trend toward consumer-driven corporate IT is one that will define a great deal of reseller business opportunities this year and next.

We've seen this trend emerge from traditional early adopter sectors like legal, where the latest breed of law school graduates actually consider which firm to join according to the freedom on offer to bring user-owned iPads, tablets and laptops onto the company network. These businesses certainly agree that, to attract the best talent, they need to make this concession.

But that isn't the biggest reason. Enlightened CIOs everywhere are cottoning on to the fact that users are often the best judge of what tools they need to do their job the best. The IT department therefore exists to enable and empower those users; not to prescribe or control them.

A nice idea, but do these enterprises have the solutions to make this happen securely, productively and cost-effectively? More crucially still, do their trusted reseller partners have the skills to recommend and implement them? That prospect will be a threat to some, and an opportunity to many...

Barrie Desmond (pictured) is marketing and business development director at VADition

Read his thoughts all this week at Views from the Channel