MaaS360™

In our last issue we addressed mobility intelligence—the new mindset enterprises will need to remain competitive in today’s increasingly mobile universe. IT departments of the future will require staff that possesses an equal amount of soft-skills and intuition as well as a strong technical background. But what are some of the challenges IT departments will face with the new workforce?

Every year Beloit College in Wisconsin releases its own “mindset” for the entering college class. The list was originally designed as reminder for Beloit professors to not use outdated references. Tom McBride and Ron Nief’s list is now accepted as the “catalog of the rapidly changing worldview of each generation.” We thought we’d share with our MaaS360 readers some of the key differences in the class of 2014 that might have an impact on enterprises.

• Few in the class of 2014 know how to write in cursive. Don’t expect the new workforce to be gifted hand-written note takers. They’ve had access to computers and spellcheck their entire lives.

• Email is just too slow for this generation; they prefer texting and instant messaging. Which means it will be more important than ever to have a strong IT policy that covers all forms of electronic communication.

• They never twisted the coiled handset wire aimlessly around their wrists while chatting on the phone. It may be surprising, but if your office uses landline telephones with attached handsets, as most offices do, the class of 2014 will need training on how to use them.

• They’ve never recognized that pointing to their wrists was a request for the time of day. Most of the class of 2014 relies on their mobile devices to keep track of time and stay organized. These workers will need little training on new mobile technologies—in fact, as we discuss in this issue’s cover story, the class of 2014 will probably drive mobile adoption in your business by bringing their preferred technology to work.