11.24.09
Freedom from IT Tyranny?
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Is it unfair to label Corporate IT as tyrannical? Well, consider some other possibilities. Are they democratic? No, but most corporate organizations are not democratic. So, why expect more from IT than any other organization. Do they have open discussions and open decision making? Maybe to some degree, but basically IT is isolated, since the rest of the organization cannot speak their language. Are they kind and helpful? Some try to be, yet most of the time, IT is seen as being extremely arrogant.
To be tyrannical, don’t there need to be tyrants? Of course, there must be tyrants to keep order. There must by absolute leaders. I refer to these individuals as “Lords of the Underworld”. They must be followed with absolute adherence or else chaos would reign. They are important to the stability of a corporation. They set the boundaries that must not be crossed.
Now do not get up in arms over the “Lords of the Underworld”. They are there to protect us. They have rules and standards that must be followed in the same way we must follow the “Rules of the Road”. Imagine if every county in our country were to decide to use different streets signs or street light colors? Catastrophes would unfold and people would die. In the same way, transporting messages electronically, storing data, and processing data have similar “Rules of the Road”. These rules must be obeyed for the good of all.
The “Lords of the Underworld” are necessary to have the needed infrastructure enablers for the use of Information Technology. But, we do not need this lording attitude to extend into the very core of each line-of-business. This is why there is a belief that corporate IT organizations are tyrannical.
By opening up and sharing the visual aspects of all automated business systems, corporate IT departments can become more open. They can become transparent. They can become democratized and de-tyrannicalized.
If you follow my blog, you already know how an organization can move their IT organization towards democracy and away from being tyrannical. All they need is a solid, corporate strategy-driven, Enterprise Architecture program. The Enterprise Architects will be able to provide the visualization of IT. Then, the line-of-business organizations can take control of their own destiny by innovating their application of technology.
This movement towards openness in business has been enhanced by the use of Web 2.0 concepts. These concepts allow for collaboration leading to better served customers from organizations with more satisfied employees. Corporate IT, with the help of their Enterprise Architect, can accomplish this same collaboration. Once this occurs the memories of tyranny will be erased.
