Humour

Taming rogue users

T A Balasubramanian focuses on the problems faced by CIOs in dealing with young and restless techies.

With his usual irreverent streak, doling out assorted reams of observations, diversions and wacky stories, Dr Don Jong is back in a new session, ironing out the kinks and knots that he uncovers in the turbulent mind of Bobo Jitter, the CIO of Bazooka Company. Dr Jong, also called ‘The Oddfather’ because of the outlandish prescriptions that he offers, has a penchant for wrestling with the tangled workings of technology and it’s unctuous underside.

“So what creases your forehead this week, Bobo?”

“Well, Doc, I have some disturbing mail that our CEO received recently from a young trainee who has joined Bazooka’s marketing wing a year ago, who goes by the name Neo Tinker,” says Jitter, settling into the couch with a groan.

“Ah, and what was it that you found disturbing about young Neo’s mail?”

“It makes me look like Hagar the Horrible, for one thing. Here it is: ‘I was born in 1981. Wikipedia tells me that this means that I am part of one of the following—Generation Y, the Internet Generation, the Boomerang Generation, or the MTV Generation. Whatever the case, I am the guy people always mistake for a student around here, and some of them even pat me on the head. Honestly, I find that most of the precautions set forth by the present CIO and the people who run the IT turf are little more than outdated superstition. Until recently (like last week) we did not even have a wireless network because one guy in charge thought hackers would, quote, ‘monitor and steal everything.’ The fact of the matter is, the lines have blurred between what is ‘earned’ and what makes the most sense for a business. A CIO title is just that—a title. It does not mean that this guy knows more than I do because he is older than me. One would hope a good CIO did, but that is not always the case and to assume so, can hinder progress.”

“I presume that you—this ‘guy’ that Neo refers to fondly—has set up some tough rules at Bazooka about access to the Internet, and so on?”

“Well, yes. It is a necessary wall we CIOs are forced to put in to avoid the nuisance of ‘rogue users’ who defy processes and rules to accomplish their agendas.”

“So taking potshots at the ‘CIO guy’ here are ‘rogue users’ out there, eh? I recall reading an article sometime ago about  revolutionaries and the motive of rogue users. One writer suggests that many of these ‘rogues’ are spawned simply because of the frustrations caused by IT departments that are non-responsive and failing to lead in technology. While he broadly agrees with the need for governance and rules, he views rogue users as being symptomatic of an unmet need. Maybe these rogues just happen to be teenage technophiles with a desire to be self-expressive, Bobo?”

“But non-responsive? Failing to lead in technology? Come on, Doc, give me a break. Let me tell you about an eye-opening experience a few days ago when I attended a CIO conference. You might have expected, as I had, that most CIOs would be there to know about the latest trends in technology so they could keep ahead of the new generation—especially the Neo Tinkers of the world. Nothing of the sort.  We long-suffering CIOs, it turns out, are mostly business people who have graduated up from our techie beginnings, and who have been given the thankless job of keeping the IT lights on in their companies.”

“And the best way to ensure that the light stays on is for the long-suffering CIO to change as little as possible, eh?”

“Exactly. We are compelled to maintain the status quo as much as possible. That puts many CIOs, including me, in the awkward position of not being the technology innovator in their company.”

“Ah, Bobo, but look at it from the other side of the tunnel. Would it not be right then to assume that CIOs are rather the dead weight keeping the real technology innovators—the ‘rogues’ who are exuberant and youthful employees, such as Neo, who want to use the tools increasingly available on the wide-open Internet to help them do their jobs better and with more fun—from taking matters into their own hands?”

“I would not go that far, but yes, what you exaggerate has a germ of truth in it. In all fairness, Doc, we CIOs have a pretty tough job. Nobody thanks us when the network works and the data is backed up or when hackers get bounced off by good security, but we get a load of flak when things go wrong. Why then, should it be a surprise that we are so risk-adverse and conservative?”

“I do not argue against the need for rules, Bobo. It is the image of the CIO that is getting shredded. If you notice young Neo’s tone, CIOs are regarded as creatures just one rung above the local municipality. They have the unpleasant job of mopping up data spills when they happen, along with enforcing draconian data retention policies sent down from the legal department. They respond to trouble alarms with alarm and disable user permissions at the drop of a hat. They practice saying “no”, not  ”what if?” and they block the ports used by the most popular services, from Google to Second Life, which reminds me of the old joke about the shopkeeper who, when asked what happened to a certain missing product, answered ‘We don’t stock it anymore. It kept selling out.’ “

“It’s not funny, Doc. This mail from Neo is making my CEO wonder what the hell is going on with his IT guy.”

“Yes, of course, it is not funny, my boy. CIOs are not out there to win popularity contests. But you must observe these new demands coming at you from a new generation. Fresh-from-college kids like Neo are weaned on Google and MySpace, so when they meet their first IT department, they want nothing to do with ideas like ‘limited disk storage allocation’ and ‘acceptable use policy.’ They want a wide open data pipe into cyberspace, preferably at gigabit speed. They neither need or want the CIO to administer their e-mail, wikis, blogs, video storage or discussion groups. They want the ‘guy’ to simply get out of their way.”

“So we are not wanted around? Perhaps it is time to think about our relevance—users like Neo no longer value what CIOs do. It does not require rocket science to keep fat pipes to the Internet open. A billion free hosted services on the Web have replaced the functions of the IT departments, one by one, just as sand replaces the cells in dinosaur bones over time. Is it the end of the road for CIOs? Are we getting extinct as a species?”

“Hmm. Maybe it is too early to say, Bobo. These are young adults who grew up with a boundless sense of self-importance, have always had free access to the Internet and who will circumvent IT practices and policies without hesitation. You are, of course, annoyed with Neo’s audacity, eh?”

“But of course, Doc. Wouldn’t anybody be?”

“Well, what if this generation of Neos could deliver something exciting and different to the fussy ‘guy’ in the IT department? What if you can tap into their passion for sharing digital content, their need to be constantly challenged and to show off their talent? What if you can turn into a bit of an adult ‘rogue’ yourself?”

“Ah, but you are full of rhetorical questions, Doc.”

“Voila. That should tell you something about making place for Neo Tinker in Bazooka, too.”