IT people are (by and large) a cautious group, and for good reason. Even the slightest change or hiccup and the wrath of the entire executive team and user community will come down on them. While completely unfair this is the world we live in.

Unfortunately this has created an environment where IT people have simply become (for lack of a better word) afraid to take chances, choosing instead to continue with the tried and true.

Think about it - when was the last time your IT group really went out on a limb with a new solution that they just knew would help the company despite the fact it was “new” or “different”.

Go ahead, we'll give you a minute to think about it.

....

Not for quite some time - if ever, right? This is dangerous, and problematic. This crisis means “tried and true” rules the day - despite the game-changing (yet different) technology solutions now available.

In the world of IT different = risk + challenge =  bad. But in the world of reality, this is simply not true. "New" doesn't have to be a loaded term, it can just mean new. "New" can actually be a good thing (gasp) - and can breath new life into a department that is already stressed to its limits.

If there are 2 things IT has never had enough of its time and money.  Taking intelligent risks on new technologies can mean more of both of those things - time back for your team and money back into your budget.  

The 800 pound gorilla here is the content filter. Its a technology based on keeping the bad guys out and was created during a time when there were fewer bad guys than good - so we can follow the train of logic.  But today the bad far outweighs the good and the conversation needs to be reversed. 

All of our lives (IT personnel included) would be far easier if we focused on the good: let just the good people in and don't worry about the bad.

Why have to deal with 17 layers of protections and which one falsely identified the message as spam this time? Why not let users decide for themselves who to allow in (or not allow) and free up some valuable IT time for other, more important things?

Oh, that’s right, this is new and new is bad. And don’t forget, our users couldn’t possibly handle something like this (despite the fact they are already comfortable with places like FaceBook and LinkedIn which do the same thing). Come on – take a chance! Break the shackles of fear and complacency – there’s a brave new world of technology ready to make a difference for you and your users if you’re ready to give it a try. And what better place to start than here with anti-spam, and what better time to start than now?