Surprising Science — October 25, 2011

Crowdsourcing the Future for IT Departments

Dell predicts that IT managers will move to the sort of model that film studios use: big temporary teams that come together to solve a problem then disband.

bigthinkeditor

What’s the Latest Development?

Dell predicts that crowd-sourcing will be a challenge that IT managers and chief information officers will have to meet in the next 10-15 year as they move to the sort of model film studios use: big temporary teams. “We’re going to start to see more businesses operating with crowd sourcing, the way that lots of professionals come together to make a movie and then disband.”

What’s the Big Idea?

Other trends highlighted by Dell include things that CIOs are already grappling with: ethical dilemmas about monitoring employee use of devices and internet and a change in the adoption of devices as people start to use their own phones and laptops for work. The research also flags more general management trends: the move to measure productivity in output not hours, and the different demands of different generations in the workplace.

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