When we first started this Consumer Driven IT blog, the concept of bring your own device, or BYOD, was fast becoming the most commonly mentioned topic about IT consumerization. However, the notion of wanting to “bring your own device to work” was not very relevant to me, since my “work” location was my home. As a long-standing work-from-home individual though, I could certainly identify with many other aspects of the increasingly blurred lines between one’s personal and professional lives. Galen Gruman in his post this week outlines the advantages and disadvantages of working from home, many of which depend on the specific policies of your employer. I happen to be lucky to work for one who has a formal program that minimizes many (although not all) of the hassles involved. 
This week also brought another frightening development in this debate – Google’s new ability to enable employers to track the specific location of their employees using GPS and Google Maps. I will be the first to admit that when I work at home I have the flexibility to take breaks if needed and run the occasional errand, but of course in return I often start work much earlier in the day (and work later at the end) then I ever could if I had to commute. I certainly would have issues with my location being tracked on a daily basis, and one wonders if this is going to have a dampening effect on the work-from-home trend. Google says that people have the option of turning this off, but one wonders if in the future employers will try to force its usage as a condition of working from home. Let’s hope not.
Here’s what was in the IT consumerization news in the last two weeks:
June 26: Poll: who's the most social CEO? By Chris Ciaccia via The Street
An increasing number of CEOs are turning to social media to not only interact with customers and clients, but also to talk about their businesses.
June 26: Morgan Stanley to expand access to social media by William Alden via Business Standard
After a successful pilot, Morgan Stanley is finally rolling out access to Twitter and LinkedIn to its financial advisors.
June 25: Big data - a big deal for small business by Andrew Brust via ZDNet
Big data is helping small businesses better target their customers with the right products and marketing approaches.
June 25: Pharma's great hope: big data via Forbes
Big data will help pharmaceuticals better characterize diseases and patient population, develop new products and therapies, and assess products and therapies already in use.
June 23: Social whirl - Microsoft in pursuit via The Economist
Some further background on Microsoft’s purchase of Yammer, what it means and why Microsoft needs something beyond SharePoint.
June 22: The social enterprise's work has only just begun by Siobhan Fagan via CMS Wire
Great summary of highlights from the recent Enterprise 2.0 conference in Boston.
June 22: Bigger than BYOD - the iffy future of the corporate office by Galen Gruman via InfoWorld
Do “knowledge workers” need a physical office at all? The pros and cons of the work-from-home life.
June 21: Google Maps reinvented as employee tracker by Caleb Garling via Wired
This has many practical applications but is also pretty troubling when used in the context of keeping track of work-from-home employees.
June 21: Is Apple's "Genius Bar" the future of the corporate help desk? by Ryan Haas via the Cult of Mac
Many companies are moving to address their BYOD issues by providing personal-touch “walk-in” services
June 19: Stealth IT Infographic posted by David Vellante on Wikibon blog
Stealth IT and the Ninja war in the workplace!
June 18: CMOs of Cisco, Adobe and SAP discuss leading a social transformation by Todd Wilms via Forbes
While social is being driven by the CMO and marketing, it is clear that to be successful, social strategies need to be embraced by the entire company.
June 18: Consumerization of IT driving virtualization to the private cloud by Rich Bourdeau via Computer Technology Review
Many companies view private clouds as the next phase in their virtualization efforts with the goal of enabling the consumerization of IT.
June 18: The Era of Big Data is Now by Tom Silva via the Huffington Post
This article claims that Big Data will be a major new spur in our country's growth.
NEW from CA Technologies This Week:
• Andi Mann was a guest on last week’s podcast with Jack Madden and Colin Steele on Consumerization Nation. You can listen to it HERE.
• Latest Chief & Chuck cartoon explored the inevitable evolution of BYOD – this time it is BYOT – bring your own toys to work! See it HERE.