IT: A Culture Of No To Know Or Nay To Yay?

I have had an interesting juxtaposition of meetings these past few weeks. I meet with a group of CIOs where the zeitgeist is one of being part of the business – to the point of being a major part of the revenue stream (Boeing is doing that with software-based service options). With the CIOs, being part of the business is changing IT from a culture of NO to a culture of Yes – where yes is being innovative and enabling- and appropriately weigh options and risks without prejudice, or heavy handed in-house solutions and rules. A big topic of discussion was around “Bring Your Own Device” – which most viewed as inevitable.

OTOH, I also sat in meetings of architects, developers, and security analysts who are ready to shoot their brains out because of conversations like “Bring your own device” — for fear of security breaches. At best, this group came to a realisation that iPad access is happening whether they like it or not, and that getting in front of that is like waiting to get hit by a train. But their answer, sometimes, was to give an inch: “OK – iPads, but not Slates!” or, better yet: “we can make the iPhone our standard if we decommission the Blackberry”.

Another analogy presented by this group was the common use of internet file exchange services; on the sly, in corporate “don’t ask, don’t tell” fashion. The normal IT response is “we can make an App for that which we provide and which is more secure!”…or, alternatively “Let IT evaluate assess and approve those options, then manage it via edict and policy”.

Its a big fault line between those two POVs. I know where I am putting my money – on “Yes”.

The danger with “yes” is that CIOs have to make sure their organisation doesn’t become merely an order taker – but a trusted advisor/partner in those business technology decisions. Unfortunately, sometimes group two doesn’t perceive it that way; they see capitulation and yes-ma’am-itis. Then the die for organisation dysfunction is set.