Wait, wait! I know what you’re thinking. That maybe I’ve lost my mind. Or started taking advertising dollars directly from Microsoft Games or whatever the division is called.

I can assure you that neither happens to be the case. Rather, part of a recent Gartner report on things IT executives should do for the new year caught my attention. Just not in the way it was intended, I think.

The mentioning of purchasing an XBox (or other console) to help understand disruptive technologies and prepare for the new year might not be totally off base. Not necessarily because it’s disruptive. It’s not, really. Consoles have been around for 35 years or so now and the premise hasn’t changed. Even the game plots remain largely unchanged, merely sporting (arguably) better execution in more recent releases.

No, what we should consider about consoles in relation to IT management is their ease of use. Only the absolutely necessary features are supported. You can always upgrade or expand them at a later point.. the underlying mechanisms are somewhat flexible. But the interface presented to the end user provides what they need, and only what they need, to get their “work” done.

Corporate and business systems should strive to be similar. Not the administrators system or the PC running design suites that vary frequently, but the person using a word processor, web browser, and calendering app. All to often unnecessary features clutter desktops and give rise to usage issues (or distract the user).

Not every desktop of course. Some corporations or large outfits have a fairly streamlined experience. But I’m betting there’s quite a few of you businesses that could benefit from a clutter free desktop being presented to in-house users. It’s certainly something to think about going into the new year.