How ironic is it that your office email and IM systems are markedly inferior to what you use at home? IT departments will hem and haw about security and ease of integration, but the bottom line is that workers are forced to use crippled setups.

Some are fighting back. They’re bypassing the office Outlook system (or, God forbid, Lotus Notes) and sticking with their personal Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and other Web-based accounts when they join a company, citing familiarity and established contacts.

I wish I had that option. The network at my office bars access to common Web email interfaces, including Yahoo’s and Google’s. I understand the rationale in guarding against viruses, but it’s frustrating that I can’t do a simple periodic check of my personal inbox.

I think the notion of having individuals bring their own email systems, as it were, to their jobs is sound enough. It’s comparable to using your cellphone for business reasons: Plenty of folks already do that, with billing reimbursement and/or discounted rates offsetting costs incurred. I can envision a time, not too far off, when starting a new job includes porting over your personal email and phone systems, and then taking the same with you when you leave. Less infrastructure costs for the business — and it’s all about cutting costs to the bone, organization-wise.