Submission + - Best Practices for Mechanical Engineers?
briancox2 writes: "I am a Mechanical Engineer with a small firm. Recently new computers were purchased and with them cam a new policy that all Engineering computers had to have the same software. Also, the ability to install new software was taken away. The reason given was that this made IT management easier and that it is an industry “best practice”. Also, the IT department would like to have Internet Explorer as the only browser that can be used on the network, to enforce the network’s policies.
My thought is that, while it may work best for some fields, Engineers, even Mechanical Engineers, need flexibility in an IT policy which allows them to solve unique problems as they crop up. Also, being only a lowly Mechanical Engineer, I don’t know if there are ways to enforce these policies on all browsers from the network itself.
Do you know of any standards for evidence that indicate it is better for Engineers to have flexibility with their computers? Do you think it’s still better to lock down the network this way?"
My thought is that, while it may work best for some fields, Engineers, even Mechanical Engineers, need flexibility in an IT policy which allows them to solve unique problems as they crop up. Also, being only a lowly Mechanical Engineer, I don’t know if there are ways to enforce these policies on all browsers from the network itself.
Do you know of any standards for evidence that indicate it is better for Engineers to have flexibility with their computers? Do you think it’s still better to lock down the network this way?"
