Renegades, rogues and phantoms

During a recent slog through the tech slush pile (also known as a review of the literature), near the end of a rambling stew of corporate group-speak peppered with buzz-words (and oddly labeled ‘Thought Leadership’), I came across the following recommendation made by the CIO of a well known American company:

“If you want to position your organization to use technology to drive business value . . . then create and enforce clear IT policies throughout the organization to prevent adoption and utilization of renegade IT solutions that don’t support corporate IT strategy.”

Ah, yes. The renegade solution. The shadow system. The terms ‘renegade’, ‘rogue’, ‘phantom’ and ‘shadow’ conjure up images of cowboys, of pirates, of covert operatives on secret missions . . . wonderful grist for the Hollywood drama mill . . . but hardly an accurate depiction of the tactical developer.  Tactical Development is interesting and rewarding work, but it’s not nearly as intriguing or romantic as all that. And characterizing it in this way amounts to little more than propaganda.

If the user were fully satisfied with the product delivered by IT, or by its vendor partners, there would be no need for the shadow system or rogue solution, and there would be no need for the business to look elsewhere for answers to its operational problems.

If rogue solutions, purpose-built to solve business problems and entirely consistent with the business agenda, are out of line with IT strategy, then perhaps it’s the IT strategy that’s in need of some alignment.

The simple truth is that every shadow system is a working testament to the unwillingness or inability of IT to deliver. Every single one.

It’s also true that some of the best ideas for utilizing technology to further the business agenda come from the field, and if these gems don’t quite align with the corporate IT strategy, that’s no reason for the business not to pursue them.  They represent potential markets, or operational efficiencies, or opportunities for competitive advantage. The CIO who ignores them, or dismisses them, or actively attempts to ‘prevent their adoption or utilization’, may soon find herself out of the (business) loop.