[PLUG-TALK] The IT Department Is Dead

[Paul Heinlein]

A few days ago I read an article reviewing Nicholar Carr's Book, "The 
Big Switch," which argues that the traditional IT department will soon 
be a thing of the past:

   http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/010708-carr-it-dead.html

I actually think he'll be proven more right than wrong as time 
progresses -- assuming (as I do) that internetworking will only become 
more robust and stable over time.

Among the many things missing from the discussion (at least as it's 
presented in the review article) is the distinction between IT 
services dependent, for lack of better terms, on latency as opposed to 
bandwidth. That is, there are services provided by IT departments that 
require quick interaction and change (latency-dependent services) and 
those that require stability and power (bandwidth-dependent services).

It seems to me that companies looking to outsource IT functions would 
be well served by distinguishing the two. Bandwidth-dependent 
services, it seems to me, are the better candidates for outsourcing or 
commoditization. Once up and running, all these services need to do is 
run.

Carr's examples like CRM functionality, simple storage, raw computing 
clouds -- plus the widely known ones like outsourcing e-mail 
processing and web hosting -- can and have been successfully 
outsourced. (That they've also been done in a botched manner is just 
an argument for being careful, not for avoiding outsourcing 
altogether.)

Outsourced latency-dependent services, however, are more likely to 
cause frustration for employees because they need a lot of human 
interactions (some verbal, some visual, some physical) to happen in a 
short period of time for the service to be deemed successful.

Upgrading key software, for instance, is not a task I'd outsource. Too 
many things can go wrong -- and too many short follow-up checks need 
to happen -- to trust the operation to a high-latency relationship.

Access control or account management falls into the same category. 
Many of those sorts of changes need to happen immediately, with 
someone keenly following up to make sure the desired results were 
achieved. A low-latency, trusted relationship is key.

-- 
Paul Heinlein <> heinlein at madboa.com <> http://www.madboa.com/