CIO Essentials: DIY IT, virtualisation and WFH

Ever wondered what CIOs are reading on silicon.com? Our CIO Essentials feature puts you in the picture. Each week a leading IT chief picks his or her top stories from the past week and explains why they matter.

This week we hear from Gavin Whatrup, group IT director at marketing and advertising consultancy Creston.

DIY approach best for IT glitches
There are a number of important issues touched on in this item - helpdesk versus call centre, offshoring versus domestic, training of users and support staff, and the setting of expectation levels. What runs through each of these is there appears to be a growing disconnect between those who need help and those who provide it, as a result of growing pressure on the former and a cost squeeze on the latter.

Virtualisation gets trendy
The growth of virtualisation products is akin to the rising of the sun. Gradually the potential uses of this technology start to become self-evident with each passing day. What started out as a great way to do more with less is now having a demonstrable and auditable effect on improving performance, reducing risk and in minimising our environmental impact. Check your licensing, though.

Upwardly Mobile: There's no workplace like home
'Work/life balance' and 'flexible working' are terms normally associated with the corporate HR policy rather than the real world of meetings, deadlines, information exchange and keeping the boss happy. The middle way between the two extremes is a persuasive top-down culture of use, rather than it being seen as a benefit and 'nice-to-have'. Also, the technology available is now cheap and mature enough for IT not to be seen as a barrier. A much greater barrier to entry is the hard and soft skills training required on how best to use the opportunity.

Photos: The data centre in a shipping container
These portable data centres will prove an interesting challenge to risk analysts as much as for those with a penchant for too many doughnuts. Other than working off the portable benefit ticket of these boxes I suspect they are a solution looking for a cause.

Virgin trains kitted out with mobile signal boosters
Not great news for those looking for a little 'think time' while travelling on the train. That said, it is very frustrating to be continually hopping between in-reception and out-of-reception, which only results in further shouting down the phone as the signal fades. So this will, ironically, be better for those seeking solace as calls can be maintained at a decent volume and without the resulting exclamations.

If you are a UK-based IT director or CIO and would like to take part in the CIO Essentials series by choosing your top five stories of the week, send us an email here at silicon.com.