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Gartner Finally Realizes That Social Networking At Work Isn't Evil
from the could-have-found-that-elsewwhere-earlier... dept
It wasn't that long ago that Gartner was spreading FUD about the use of social networking tools at work, saying it didn't think the technology would be beneficial within corporations. It seems that Gartner has a new tune. Just a week or so after we pointed out how silly it was to block social networks at work, Gartner has come out and said the same thing, pointing out that such blocks don't really work, and most people now use such tools for important forms of communication, which would be harmed by IT decisions to cut them off. Of course, some of us have been saying that for years. Good thing companies are paying billions to Gartner for its advice, right?
Reader Comments
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Talk until you a blue in the face...
Sometimes a message won't be heard because it just isn't the right time for it.
It is only now that businesses are using Facebook and such that the social networking value is seen to both the business mgt/owners and IT departments.
Until you have major companies invested in a meaningful way, you weren't going to get any traction on the argument of not blocking what appears to be the new water cooler to management. Now that it is seen as the new Golf Course or pick your analogy, it is A-OK with management but they need a study to justify it :)!
Freedom
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Gartner says whatever they are paid to say
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Gartner?
Who is this Gartner?
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Re: Gartner?
Gartner, Inc. is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. We deliver the technology-related insights necessary for our clients to make the right decisions, every day.
http://www.gartner.com/technology/about.jsp
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Re: Gartner?
mouthpiece
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Re: Re: Gartner?
mouthpiece
You realize he copy/pasted the summary from Gartner's "About" page (which he linked to) to be helpful, whereas you're just an anonymous jackass, Right?
/sigh
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Good thing companies are paying billions to Gartner for its advice, right?
Someone's a little jealous...
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Re:
Someone's a little jealous...
Heh. Not at all. I'm never jealous of success. But I can point out how dumb it is that people pay them so much money for such bad advice.
What's wrong with that?
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Some companies embrace these sites
Our company has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and a few other sites, and actively encourages employees to participate. So not everyone just thinks of them as time wasters.
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"Best Practice" != Best Solution
There are still plenty of private networks that I would not recommend opening up to social networking. High security environments with a broad authorized user base should still avoid non-critical "targeted services" such as Facebook to protect themselves from the gullible majority.
If it were easier to fire people for under-performing, I would say sure, open up the services wherever there isn't a security policy in place that would dictate otherwise. For mid to large size corporations, they probably need to decide whether or not to open to social networking based on their employees' use patterns and experiences.
Social networking is good, but its also a form of crack for some people, who create burden for their teammates. Work ethic should always come before being socially connected, and for many in the workforce this is unfortunately not the case.
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The fine line....
Being a Systems Admin myself, I would argue that there is a fine line between justifying use of sites like FaceBook while at work. Companies will still have to shovel out cast to make sure their employees are not spending many hours a day on social network sites.
I would argue that this is definitely one of those situations where there is a fine line between wasting time at work, and helping the company by contributing the the common good. Not many people understand that when they pass through the corporate proxy gateway, they are logged to the teeth. These logs in the hands of a good admin can be broken down in seconds to find out what employees are actually doing online.
I once held the Sysadmin gig along with a management job (multitasking) for a small business before venturing out on my own. I was actually quite lenient in that I allowed people to do what they generally wanted, provided that their work was done in a timely manner. But there were those who simply couldn't help themselves. What cracked me up most, was watching the light above "offender's" cubicle change with a couple of mouse clicks as someone walked in that direction, only to change back after the person walked on by.
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People will always find away around things. People/governments/corporations will always try to block the consumer on not doing something, and the consumer WILL always find away around.
Anyone who believes they can stop everyone from doing something is sorely misinformed.
examples:
1. The U.S. War on Drugs (That worked out well eh)
2. Newspapers putting up pay walls (Still waiting to see if that will work out, my bets on people flocking to the free alternatives)
3. Movies/music concerning file sharing (**AA still haven't stopped that one from happening, and doesn't appear to be dropping anytime soon)
This blocking social networks on company networks is just another dead end. How to get around it? People are just using there smart phones now, to browse, and do whatever they like. So it really hasn't stopped anything.
Hell I even don't even use ITunes for my ipod, cause I refuse to be locked down to it, and want to be able to transfer my files, back and forth to any computer I choose.
What is it they say in Hackers: "You may stop me, but you can't stop us all!"
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