What can you do to help reverse that trend? Here are some tips provided by Michael Davis, CEO of Savid Technologies, at the recent Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas:

1. Learn from another industry

When companies invest in security, what are they really buying? Insurance, says Davis. So IT pros can take cues from insurance salesmen when making their cases. One tactic to borrow: Use concrete scenarios to illustrate your point.

Don’t focus on big-impact cases that have only a small chance of happening. Execs care more about high-probability threats. You can bring up stories about other companies, but focus on threats your particular organization has dealt with or narrowly avoided in the past.

2. Assemble a committee

While IT does the brunt of the security work, it can’t be the only group making decisions. A Savid study found that projects run by IT without input from the rest of the company were often aborted. The most successful projects were headed by a committee featuring representatives from IT, upper management, finance and other stakeholders.

3. Leverage users’ skills

When you’re ready to make your push, find an ally in marketing or sales to go over your presentation with you. They know more about persuasion than IT folks. If you find someone who cares about technology, he or she should be more than willing to help.

A survey by Accenture of 5,595 employees and students under age 25 found that communication among this generation is shifting away from e-mail and toward even more instant alternatives.

So how are they communicating? According to the survey, they increasingly use real-time alternatives to e-mail, such as text or instant messaging. While their older counterparts may spend six hours or more on work-related e-mail, mid-millenials spend only about four.

Apparently, having access to the latest technology is a big enough factor that young folks will consider it when they’re deciding where to work — 52% U.S. “millenials” told Accenture that technology features prominently in their employer decision. The study found that this new generation wants to choose what technologies they use.

For a closer look at the Accenture study, visit here.

But there is a way you can help your users avoid this mistake.

In most e-mail programs, the Reply and Reply All buttons are right next to each other. They also look alike, so they’re often mistaken for one another.

What to do: Most programs also let you customize your toolbar so you can rearrange or even remove certain buttons.

For example, in Microsoft Outlook 2007:

1. Click on the “Tools” menu at the top and select “Customize…” from the drop-down list
2. Select the “Commands” tab and click the button that says “Rearrange commands”
3. In the new window that appears, click the button next to “Toolbar”
4. Find “Reply to All” in the list underneath and use the “Move Up” and “Move Down” commands to change its position, or click “Delete” to remove the button from the toolbar altogether.

If the button is removed, users can still reply to everyone by finding “Reply to All” in the “Actions” menu.

The keys to a successful work-from-home program: Make sure employees can handle life away from the IT department and enable them to share documents with co-workers.

Here’s a list of things companies should have ready before letting employees work from home:

• Communication tools – Instant Messaging (IM), either through the corporate network or a commercial client like Google Talk, can help remote workers stay connected. Some companies also use the video cameras built into many computers for teleconferencing.
• Basic training – Before sending anyone home to work, managers need to make sure IT’s given the employees all the training they need to work away from the help desk. Otherwise, technical difficulties could get in the way of productivity.
• Hardware and software – Some companies shell out for everything employees are going to use. Others take a less expensive approach and require workers to use at least some of their own equipment. To do that, survey employees to find out what they have and what IT will need to provide.
• Electronic forms – If employees work from home full time, you’ll need a way to distribute corporate forms electronically. Programs like Microsoft InfoPath and Adobe Acrobat let users edit PDF documents. Also, you’ll need a way for employees to sign forms electronically.