Don't Panic over Rogue IT
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Just spotted one of those panic-inducing IT stories that pop up in the business section.... The Boston Globe is reporting that half of employees feel "more empowered than IT to control their personal IT environment," according to a new Yankee Group report entitled "Zen and the Art of Rogue Employee Management," raising the spectre of an increase in "rogue IT" or "shadow IT" activity -- IT spending and projects carried out behind the backs of the IT function. |
How bad is the problerm? CIO Insight's last in-depth look at the topic reported that 5 to 15 percent of IT spending goes to rogue IT projects, according to estimates.
In my opinion, we have two opposing trends: the combination of Web 2.0 and users who are more comfortable with technology leads to greater ease and the temptation for users to do on their own work that was once done by IT departments. On the other hand, regulatory and privacy requirements dictate more corporate control.
This will be a tricky balancing act; our article on "Rooting Out Rogue IT" provides a pole to help walk the tightrope. But be careful not to overreact -- the line between IT and users can't be a strict separation any more. As I wrote in our August 2006 IT Organization survey:
Now we are seeing the emergence of the hybrid business manager and even staff member who is an active participant in IT-related activities, and is even helping to generate new ways to use IT. This is not a return to rogue "shadow IT" projects, but the inevitable evolution of IT to an ongoing conversation between a "business" side that has been using computers since childhood, and an "IT" side that understands business. That transition won't be easy on IT professionals, as Finding 5 notes. Helping IT staff members adjust will be one of the most important tasks CIOs will need to undertake in the future.
Comments (1)
Allan,
Good points. In today's business and litigious environments, there's no way that we can ever separate the IT role from the business agenda.
Training the staff to work as a team will likely be the toughest task on the agenda going forward and will prove more difficult if people maintain their proprietary hold on their 'roles' instead of thinking about the success of the organization.
I have to admit that I slightly hijacked the discussion over at Boston.com today by being the first poster and commenting that my IT woes didn't exist because I'm on a Mac. What people failed to notice was my companion comment that I'm also a one-person business owner.
Thanks for the insight.
Jeff
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Posted by Jeff | August 6, 2007 3:34 PM