Leader: Consumer tech is changing the enterprise

One lucky silicon.com reporter spent this week in Las Vegas at the manic and gigantic Consumer Electronics Show. So, you might say, he got to look at some cool gadgets and play a bit of blackjack - how's that relevant to enterprise computing exactly?

silicon.com certainly saw some cool gadgets - from a robot cleaner and the world's largest LCD screen (108 inches) to a digital sewing machine - and witnessed more of the Betamax-type format wars between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD.

But the wider themes across the show were about connectivity, mobility and access to rich content anywhere, anytime on any device - all of which are relevant to businesses.

I want to collaborate with people. I want to have the experience connect up to people at work, as well as at home. So we can't just say consumer, because the experiences span into that business environment.

-- Bill Gates, chairman, Microsoft

The proliferation of ever more powerful mobile phones, PDAs and ultra-portable PCs combined with higher bandwidth wireless connectivity is changing the way people interact and consume content, information and products.

It is changing the traditional working culture of organisations, many of which now offer remote, flexible and homeworking. But it also puts CIOs and IT directors in a position where they can influence company strategy by being able to predict changes in how their customers might use or buy services in the future - that's why enterprises need to sit up and take note of the emerging consumer electronics trends.

Bill Gates noted this blurring of lines between business and consumer IT during his keynote speech at the conference on Sunday.

He said: "I want my music when I'm in the car, when I'm at home, when I'm in the living room. I want that to be simple. I want my family's schedule, and the ease of updating it, from the phone, the PC, just touching something on the refrigerator. I want to collaborate with people. I want to have the experience connect up to people at work, as well as at home. So we can't just say consumer, because the experiences span into that business environment."

Technologies that originate in the consumer world are increasingly going to have an impact on corporate IT departments. Some organisations are more prepared than others for this shift. For instance oil giant BP is trialling a scheme to let some employees buy their own IT kit and opt out of the company's IT support.

Analyst Gartner has also suggested CIOs and IT directors need to do things like play with an Xbox 360 in order to really understand the potential benefits, challenges and risks new consumer technologies can bring to the corporate world.

This obviously doesn't mean throwing out all the company's servers and running the ERP system on a bunch of games consoles. Instead the message is that IT departments should try to embrace - rather than halt - some consumer-based technologies where they can have a positive impact on things like productivity and innovation.