Dear Bob, Why, year after year, is control over technology always an issue? Why do policies put in place over technology never carry the same force or get the same respect as policies from HR or Finance or other departments? Why do IT officers have to resort to software and hardware lock-down procedures to control company assets? No one installs a new Holley 4 barrel carburetor and Goodyear raised wh Dear Bob,Why, year after year, is control over technology always an issue? Why do policies put in place over technology never carry the same force or get the same respect as policies from HR or Finance or other departments? Why do IT officers have to resort to software and hardware lock-down procedures to control company assets?No one installs a new Holley 4 barrel carburetor and Goodyear raised white letter tires on their company car, yet they have no qualm about installing additional memory, or some “Download Doubler” and “Soothing Scenery Screen Saver” software off the Web on to the company laptop or PC. – PuzzledDear Puzzled,Well first of all, if you work in a company where HR policies get any respect, you’re the exception. In most of the companies I’ve worked for or with, HR and Accounting receive far less respect than IT from workaday employees. Second: PCs aren’t cars. Here’s a competing metaphor: Companies don’t complain when end-users put photos of their families in their work cubicles and tack up “kid art.” Why should something equally innocuous on the PC, like changing the wallpaper, cause any problems?Third: End-users “bring in” viruses? No. E-mail brings in viruses, not end-user stupidity. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve seen sales reps come in with cute stuff on floppy diskettes.But here’s the main point: PCs are a platform, not a point solution. They’re general-purpose devices designed to flexibly adapt to the needs of each individual end-user based on that end-user’s needs. That’s the whole point, which is why end-users brought them into their companies in the first place, over the strenuous objections of central IT. Your first paragraph is what causes me the most concern. “Policies to control company assets,” suggests that this is IT’s purpose. It isn’t: Control over an asset is a means to an end, and a minor one. IT’s goal ought to be maximizing the value of each company investment in information technology. Lockdown is a loss-prevention tactic, and any loss-prevention professional will tell you that when loss prevention comes at the expense of (for example) sales you’re dealing with a delicate trade-off, not a simple, one-sided equation.– Bob ——– Technology Industry