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February 24, 2006

Enterprise IT -- Less Filling, Tastes Great

"You know, too much of what passes for Beer around here is just... beer." -- from an ex-New Yorker now a fifteen-year resident of San Francisco bay area.

The arrogant romance that the consumer wants with the product is a great reflection of the enterprise attitude towards IT.

Romance is that funny thing where the reason you're with someone else is because they help you believe that you're the dream version of yourself because you're with them.

See how that works? It's not more difficult than feeling studly in "the right" car, or wearing that fragrance that makes you notice people noticing you.

Far from error-proof, when romance isn't working out there's an aspect of frustration that's like the channel knob on an old radio. Takes you "left to disappointment" or "right to anger".

What about that old "Tone" knob? It moves you from confusion in the low range to aggravation in the high range.

Here's the map of romantic failures... a harsh picture that usually no one wants to see:

You might recognize, somewhere in there, the attitude that someone you know currently harbors towards IT.

But whew, maybe it's not that bad yet. Maybe it's still just at the stage where what you hear is, "You know, a lot of what passes for IT around here is just... IT..."

That's an early warning sign. Being underwhelmed is a common complaint that the business has about IT. They say the cost, unreliability and geekiness of IT really cut down the charm of it's expected potential to fuel (a.) competitive differentiation, (b.) abs or buns of steel, and (c.) the general business mojo.

Now, however, instead of a big breakup, enlightened self-interest in the form of governance is taking hold as the major post-romantic, let's get real, "tough love" stance of business towards IT. "Hey. Just because I can't live without you doesn't mean I'm a chump!"

It's probably a good thing, like having the parent actually set consistent boundaries for the tot. We like that you're precocious, but we want good behavior, and please pick up after yourself.

It may seem like an abrupt transition, though -- going straight from dating to parenting.

But look at it this way: women have had to do that about men for centuries. So here's to business that stops dating IT and starts parenting it. Governance might just be the enterprise growing up enough to let its maternal side come out.

Posted by Malcolm Ryder at February 24, 2006 4:10 PM

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