Video: Getting Touch Into The Enterprise

Tablets are becoming the norm at home, creating a challenge for IT departments in businesses. Should they let users adopt touch devices – and if so, how can they manage the change?

One person who is in no doubt is Jeff Kilford. As global support engineering manager for Intel‘s internal IT, he is managing the programme which continually upgrades the company’s internal tech, and has experience of the tension between what CIOs want and what users desire – but he believes that is in the past now.

The tension is over

There has been “pretty intense” tension between end users who want freedom and IT managers who want control, says Kilford: “There’s been a pretty big gap between what our employees have always wanted which is beautiful devices which can  compute all day and are very powerful, and then there is everything that we need to get done for compliance and security and everything else.”

But now that has changed, says Kilford, thanks to the availability of devices such as 2-in1 convertibles laptops, and new Ultrabooks, which let users choose between the touch-screen and the keyboard experience.

The devices are also powerful enough so IT managers can do all the stuff they need to maintain security, while giving the end users the experience they need to do their job, he said at In Touch With The Future, an event hosted by Intel in European cities – Paris and  Madrid this week, Munich Milan on 8 and 10 October.

Even easy-to-use devices need to be delivered well, though. Kilford recommends a rolling refresh (he’s delivering 24,000 devices a year to his users) and training, because touch does change the way people use enterprise apps.

Here’s the full story in this video interview with Reynauld Flechaux, editorial director for NetMediaEurope in France:

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