Why can't I use my iPhone at Work?: Managing Consumerization of IT at a Multi-national Organization

As IT innovations in the last years emerged on the consumer market, employees are more experienced in the private than in the corporate use of innovative IT devices and applications. These employees, familiar with the benefits consumer products offer, expect those to be provided by their corporate IT. This trend, referred to as ‘consumerization of IT’, leads to more and more consumer innovations infiltrating companies. In particular, mobile consumer devices are currently spreading into companies, strongly pushed by top management, and create several challenges to Chief Information Officers (CIOs) around the globe: ‘What IT costs are associated with the use of mobile consumer devices?’, ‘How will corporate use of mobile consumer devices affect IT management?’, and ‘How to introduce an IT service for corporate as well as personal mobile consumer devices?’. OMEGA Group, a multi-national company with 50,000 employees, wants to leverage the potential of mobile consumer devices for corporate purposes. Therefore, these questions have to be addressed and answered by its CIO. The teaching case is designed to introduce the characteristics of consumerization and associated challenges for IT management. The case uses selected information systems methodologies and frameworks.