Yes, it has been a while since I've shared my thoughts on technology. There is a lot happening out there right now. Privacy is gone. Fans analyze Apple. Microsoft is circling the wagons. Windows 8 is the new Vista. Cloud and Social dominate everything. The next generation is raised on mobile. Entertainment options move toward a la carte.
Yet, I want to talk about the User. We all have different needs. Some of us use technology to simply communicate and view/share information (I'm going to call them "consumicators"). Others use technology for the same reasons as consumicators, but also to produce something, whether it be art, engineering, design, entertainment, etc. (I'm going to call us "pros", it sounds kind of cool).
The difference between the two, from an IT manager's perspective, is the User's computing needs. I'm going to call this analysis the Organization User Analysis (OUA). Sure, you could formalize this analysis, and that is probably a good idea. Yet, enough info can be garnered via talks with users, managers, and time spent managing an infrastructure.
Without a real analysis of your organization's technology needs and specifically the Users' needs, you may be doing a disservice to your people.
Consumicators are the large portion of the consumer market for technology manufacturers. The consumicator customer doesn't care about the details of technology or the specs, whether or not the device can be upgraded... they just want it to work. Consumicators are perfect customers for appliance like devices and cloud based services. From a manufacturers perspective, consumicators are great customers for a lot of reasons, though I won't go into them here.
Pros are specialists that use technology for all sorts of purposes. They require knowledge of all of the tools that they use in order to maintain operability and to maximize value in their often expensive technology investments. Pros deal with large content sizes, resource intensive software, and demand performance in order to accomplish their tasks. They are often very technology saavy.
When I work with Users, sometimes I will associate their needs with the type of User that they appear to be. In doing so, I can suggest solutions for their technology needs that best fit with their working style and within the organization's constraints. Often times, you are constrained by other factors, such as budgets, personnel, space, training (or lack thereof), convenience, etc. Kind in mind, it is most important to consider the User and their needs, otherwise you may be wasting time/money/effort.
A tip for HR, my experience tells me that some job types require a certain type of User.
Why am I writing about this? It is critical as an IT Manager to constantly evaluate the resources that you are providing to your organization and your people.
