The WSJ laments the lack of user driven choice in business. There are some simple reasons for this:

1. Cost. Most enterprise systems cost a fraction of consumer systems on a price/feature basis. And you’ve got procurement to thank for driving costs down – the the corresponding class of device.
2. Manageability. The average help desk call is somewhere in the range of $30 of cost to Enterprises (at Dell we can drive this lower than $15 through automation). And that’s based on a narrow range of systems. Imagine what happens when the diversity increases exponentially.
3. Commonality. This drives productivity. The same power adapters, connectors and docks make for better productivity. Diversity increases complexity.
4. Security. A common environment eases security management issues. For most Enterprises, good security is dependent on standardization.

These are just a few of the reasons you have that grey or black system that looks like your colleagues. So what’s coming?

1. Choice. As companies out-task to people like Dell the image of what is running on your system – and in fact the entire management of that system – the ability to drive choice goes up.
2. Virtualization. We aren’t far off the virtualized notebook or PC. You will log-in to one part of your hard disk for all of your personal stuff and do as you please. Then into another part to get to work. Imagine this in reverse where IT installs a work partition on your home system.
3. The IT Stipend. Imaging starting a new job, They give you a stipend of say, $1500 to spend on your technology. You pick the mix that best suits you and your job.

So, Consumerization is happening and will continue to evolve – not just for your work PC but also the broad range of technology you interact with in your daily work.