technology changes faster than people

To the detriment of employees most companies fail to perform their due diligence in evaluating alternatives to their current IT systems. Microsoft's record breaking 4th quarter was driven by sales of Windows and Office.

The corporate desktop is one of technology's most stagnant environments. For the most part Windows and Office haven't changed much in 10 years - obviously there have been some very nice improvements but all in all they're basically the same. Windows XP still powers 3/4 of the world's PC's. Many companies are still on Office 2003 or Office 2007. Client/server products designed for a world in which the Internet did not exist. 

Changing the way in which one thinks about their world is challenging, to put it mildly. In reality, the paradigm in which most IT managers base their decisions passed us by several years ago. 5 years ago the only technology as ubiquitous as Office used by corporate knowledge workers was Google.com. This was more significant than any of us realized. 

Google Apps has more in common with Google.com than it does with Exchange Server, Microsoft's email/calendaring server. There's not a single enterprise that would not benefit from deploying all or parts of the Google Apps suite. The suite is inexpensive, easy to use, reliable and secure - it's almost too easy for a generation of IT workers trained in managing the complex. Billions of dollars wasted on SharePoint trying to "connect" knowledge workers - how about utilizing the Internet and web services instead? It's simple, that's not a profitable approach for a company that sells client and server products.

It's time for IT departments to focus on enablement rather than control. This is a very difficult transition for an individual or group to make but it's a change that will be made by choice or forced by economics. The iPhone was the tip of the consumerization spear that pierced the curtain to reveal the frail realities of corporate IT. As individuals we do almost all of our computing via internet services yet we still run our businesses with client/server technology. It's not that the new technology is not ready, Motorola and Jaguar Land Rover can attest that it is, but that we naturally resist change.

An IT manager likely begins his/her exploration of Cloud Computing with a search at Google.com, perhaps that's also where they should stop. A majority of knowledge workers have already been utilizing Google's web services for nearly 10 years. Is there a more reliable web service than Google.com? Nope. That's because Google has the world's most advanced global infrastructure for the delivery of internet services - they can probably handle your email. At the very least, they deserve a serious look. There's a reason you use Gmail at home and not Outlook.