Originating Author: Dave Vellante
It's not talked about too often but the concept of concierge IT services was conceived to create a sort of a safe buffer zone between senior corporate executives and IT overall. Concierge services dedicates a team of IT professionals to the executive suite and provides a higher level of service to the corner offices than to the rest of the organization. Put bluntly, it's a way to ensure that the corporate wallets who fund IT aren't subjected to the often less than perfect IT services that the rest of the corporation has to endure.
The iPhone and devices like it will first seep into corporations via the executive path. While access to these new 'toys' will likely be restricted to the broad masses, executives that want them will more often than not, get them. To a great extent, devices like the iPhone represent a new class of device which will bring new applications and new sets of requirements for mobile workers. Whereas concierge services in the past were focused on meeting the high service level demands of executives, increasingly, such capabilities should be used as a feeder for new ideas, defining requirements and exploring enterprise adoption for competitive advantage.
Action Item: Organizations should view devices like the iPhone and other new category mobile enterprise devices as an opportunity to define, research, document and communicate new requirements for the business. This will require a skill set that is different from the types of professionals typically dedicated to serve the executive suite, shifting from ones that are primarily reactive to ones that are more visionary and proactive.