Employees to Buy Own PCs in Near Future?

Posted on January 3, 2006

ZDNet reports that Gartner, a company providing analysis of the IT industry, believes employers will soon request employees to buy their own PCs.

The majority of the technology adopted by businesses in the future will have its roots in the consumer market, said analyst Gartner which also believes that companies will soon start encouraging employees to purchase their own PCs.
In a research note released last week, Businesses Need to Explore Consumer Technology Before the Next Internet Revolution Leaves Them Behind, the analyst group claims that while traditional enterprise software remains critical, many functions can be accomplished through technologies designed for consumers.
Applications that are making inroads into enterprises include the Google Desktop, AOL IM, and Skype's voice-over-IP software, Gartner said.

One of the arguments behind it is that employees are already loading lots of unapproved consumer software applications, like Skype and instant messenger programs, on to their PCs and need these applications to stay competitive. Another Gartner study, according to the article, found that IT managers said 60% of their employees were already using consumer software programs. It may make sense for employees to own their PCs but asking employees to pay the bill would be pushing it.