BYOD, the Cloud and 99 cent apps are shifting Information Technology expertise from the glass room to the end user at an accelerating rate.
Once, all business tools were housed 'back at the office' - the phone system, postage meter, mainframe, desktop and network, all your paperwork and files were physically located under one roof. To support this infrastructure, organizations splintered responsibilities into appropriate departments; accounting, marketing, warehouse, sales, and administration departments carried separate responsibilities, budgets and expectations.
IT was one such department.
In order to build and support a complex, computerized infrastructure, one that could only be established in a building, teams of experts were required. These experts possessed a higher understanding of computer chips, cabling, communication protocols, than the typical employee or CEO.
Today, October 2, 2014, IBM ceased support of one of the first killer apps, LOTUS 1-2-3. I am reminded of all the support calls place around LOTUS 1-2-3; formulas, installation, printing. Today, 5th graders calculate and present without the benefit of a 20 person IT department. Employee have access to more data and intelligence than ever before - all without the assistance of an IT expert. Think about your kids - if they need any information, do they call IT? Now consider your parents and ask the same question.
Why Human Resources?
Training, orientation, Human Capital, social business collaboration and maintaining the Corporate image will be the next great support structures in the organization in the near future. Who better than HR to maintain a cohesive environment of collaboration between humans?
The hierarchal power structure will crumble, moving processes away from dogma and policy and towards autonomous decision making.
We don't need a postage machine, the water cooler, desktop PC, modems, paperclips, phone closets, slide projector, hanging file folders or BDR experts to help us collaborate in this new, social order.
We'll look to other resources. Human Resources.
