New rules for managing end-users

Former Gartner analyst Brian Gammage has urged CIOs to manage end user computing on a rolling basis, rather than opting for large IT refreshes every time Microsoft releases a new desktop OS or hardware reaches end of life.

Gammage, now a chief strategist at VMWare and based out of the UK, opened proceedings with local MD Duncan Bennet at the keynote of VMware's Touch Tomorrow event in Brisbane this morning.

Gammage said Microsoft's decision to end support for XP shouldn't be the sole reason IT administrators are spurred into action on improving the end user computing experience.

"End of life is no way to make a business case," he told the audience. "End of life is the business case I make for replacing my socks."

All too often, he said, the "real reasons you invest and the means by which you get funding are two very different things."

Gammage gave what he called "new rules" for managing end user computing in the face of cloud computing and consumerisation of IT.

The first is to "withdraw from managing devices.

"I didn't say stop, I said withdraw," he said. "Stop managing the device because that is inherently non-scalable and breeds inertia."

The second is to quit "big bang" projects and focus on delivering a better client experience on a more consistent basis.

The units of investment should be the process, the piece of work, or the application, he said, not a hardware and software refresh for the sake of it.

Gammage said that controlling the rate of investment quarter by quarter will allow CIOs to take advantage of fluctuations in the economy.