Elsewhere in this issue you can find my confessions surrounding the use of enterprise-grade hardware in smaller businesses (see p102). Here I’m going to turn that whole idea on its head, and look at the use of consumer-grade gear in business. After all, no less eminent a commentator than Joe Baguley, then CTO of VMware in Europe, observed that it’s consumer kit rather than enterprise that’s expected to run for decades, 24/7. Enterprises can hot-swap entire data centres; your local greengrocer can’t live for so much as a day without its internet router.
I was put in mind of this topsy-turvy view of priorities by a refreshing bout of banging my head on the desk in frustration, right in the middle of the hottest part of the summer. I swear, there’s nothing more deadly to a smooth technical support experience than the combination of working from home and good weather. Either I was out on the grass or the tech support team was. All I was
