Changing Up On BYOT

So if you're tired of the same old story, 
Oh, turn some pages
I will be here when you are ready
To roll with the changes, yeah, yeah
                  - From REO Speedwagon's "Roll With The Changes"

It's a bit of a milestone for my employment with Oracle today.  For the past 7 or so years, I've been a "Bring Your Own Toolbox" (aka "BYOT") kind of guy:  my own laptop, my preferred software applications, my library of virtual machines, my setup of development tools, etc.  That's mainly because I could get better results faster with my own toolbox than with the tools my employer provided.  An example of this is the Toshiba Tecra laptop running Windows 7 that I was issued at the start of my current employment.  It's made for a fine doorstop, but not much else.

My approach changed today.  I have a spiffy, brand-new MacBook Pro provisioned and configured by Oracle.  In fact, I'm writing this post on that very machine.

When Oracle offered the MacBook Pro, I decided to give it a try because it's a superior hardware platform to my MacBook Air.  Better hardware performance was the enticement.  I was even willing to put up with the inconvenience of accommodating the USB-C ports (4 of those and a headphone jack are all you get on the 2019 MacBook Pro).

On the downside, I no longer entirely control the configuration of my work platform. For one thing, I'm not a big fan of McAfee Endpoint Security for macOS due to the performance suck.  And I can't run Little Snitch on the Pro to see what services and connects are active.  So I'm a little concerned about the impact to my productivity.  And that's why I still have my own work platform running in my office right next to the new MacBook Pro ;)

As I've said in the past, I really believe in the BYOT approach.  So this will be an interesting test as to whether or not that approach makes sense in this situation, especially in an "all cloud all the time" world.  I'll check in here every once in awhile to let y'all know how it's going.

In the meantime, how do you approach this?  Do you bring your own tools and devices to your job?  Or do you make do with what your employer gives you?  Why have you made the choice you've made?  Share your thoughts in the comments.