IT Departments - they're gone but not

This'll be my last posting for a while regarding the future of IT Departments as I think I've said all I need to say - they're history!

Wellll, not really. Having spoken to a friend who has a healthy scepticism for all this "new cloud computing" within organisations I do agree with his view that IT Departments are more than just people looking after the networks to store Word documents.

The key split is between the "knowledge worker" and their needs - store, find and use information (at it's simplest) which is my area of speciality and the bespoke, business differentiator software that some organisations have.

For instance, within a bank they will have a lot of generic office type applications and requirements that I believe can be met much more efficiently, cost effectively and with agility through an Enterprise 2.0 approach.

Also in the bank they have their own banking systems. These systems are probably not (yet) ready for life in the cloud. They have a horde of worker ants (IT Department + business users) caressing them lovingly as they squeeze the most competitive advantage they can out of them. These are the systems that no-one else has (in that particular form).

And to the question of, "What will IT staff do once the users are doing it for themselves?" the answer is focus entirely* upon these core business differentiator systems and make them fly.

When you read the reports outlining the death of the IT Department keep in mind that they are only talking about "knowledge worker" arena where Enterprise 2.0 is focussed ... as I write this, that is.

Recent "death of IT" articles:

• Interfacing with ‘wild west’ IT
• The disappearing role?
• Cloud Computing: Tales from the Front

* not entirely, electricity still has to flow, laptops still need a WiFi to connect to and that pipe connecting the cloud needs to be lovingly cared for (no baddies let in and all the goodies out).