It is simply ridiculous that an area as technically savvy and progressive as the Bay Area, home of Silicon Valley, would not yet have embraced telecommuting en masse. Think of the phenomenal benefits telecommuting could bring. Those of us working 50+ hour weeks and then commuting -- some with families, young children, failing relationships, and poor job satisfaction -- could see some tremendous benefits. To think that companies could save money in the process!

So what's stopping us? There are a number of drawbacks to telecommuting -- most commonly the manager wanting to be able to see, hear and direct her or his minions. Fortunately many technologies now exist (most notably Lotus Notes) which could provide the paranoid or not so paranoid manager the opportunity to track the progress and success of her or his flock. Technology shall set us free.

Unfortunately very few companies are telecommuting, and very few consulting organizations are providing assistance or have experience with it. Virtually everyone who has done it has done so alone.

According to the Gartner group, "None of the mobile technology vendors, remote access vendors or general systems integrators has yet proposed a horizontal solution for the integration of the telecommuting user into the corporate IT infrastructure. The telecommuting market is fragmented by vertical niches and remains immature. IS organizations face challenges in ensuring that all their requirements are fulfilled. Few outsourcing companies are equipped to manage enterprise-wide telecommuting infrastructures, particularly those that span many geographic borders."

This gap must be filled for telecommuting to become a real option for many companies.

About telecommuting
To telecommute is to be able to access the same tools and information you would have available to you in the office -- elsewhere. For some this means having a phone and a pad of paper, for others this involves access to immense amounts of information, synchronous communication, video conferencing, etc. In most cases telecommuting is not about never going to the office, but about reducing the amount of time we need to be in the office. Thus developing a telecommuting solution and implementation demands a great deal of flexibility and the integration of many technologies to provide for the many different possible telecommuting scenarios.