The War on Tasteless, Baseless Product Pitches

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,3959,941644,00.asp

By Jim Rapoza
March 19, 2003 

It seems that nothing - not even war - is sacred to IT vendors looking
for a new hook on which to hang their products.

During the past few days, I've received several product pitches that 
use the conflict with Iraq for leverage. These pitches, not 
surprisingly, include several from security firms warning about 
potential cyber attacks. 

I guess I should be used to these types of sales pitches by now --
after all, I heard much worse (and, by far, more sickening) pitches
from companies in the wake of 9/11. Still, a few recent pitches really
rubbed me the wrong way.

One that really got to me was from a vendor of Internet filtering
software -- you know, the applications you use to keep employees from
viewing porn, playing games or doing other unproductive things.

The gist of the pitch was that the war will lead employees to 
constantly seek out news on the Internet, and that companies should be 
ready to control this to keep productivity up.

Now, this may have been especially troublesome to me because I'm an 
avowed news junkie. But I think that any company that follows this 
line of thinking is not only setting itself up for even more lost 
productivity but is also being just plain stupid. 

Yes, employees will be regularly looking to news sites to keep up to 
date with events. However, they'll be doing it from their desks, and 
not running out to a local bar or café to catch the news.

And, yes, sometimes events will be so big that employees will want to 
do more than just check the headlines. They'll want to watch streaming 
video or some other high-bandwidth media. 

If everyone is watching the same stream, this could become a network 
problem (a solution for which yet another vendor pitched). However, I 
still don't think blocking these streams is the answer. 

Having worked in many news organizations, I recommend a strategy that 
may seem counterintuitive at first. I recommend setting aside a space 
where employees can gather to watch important events unfold. A TV in a 
break room is the best option, but even a central computer for 
watching a stream can be a good solution.

Some would say that I'm recommending letting people leave their desks, 
which can't be good for productivity. But as everyone knows, when 
something important happens, people will find a way to hear about it. 
Better they do it in the office than come up with an excuse to go 
home.

If employees know they can keep up with events - instead of wondering 
what's going on out there -- they'll be more comfortable and thus more 
productive. 

Are these vendors right? Should businesses limit employee access to 
war news? Let me know at jim_rapoza () ziffdavis com



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