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THE CHANNEL MANAGER’S
PLAYBOOK
a good relationship between IT functions and business
units. Sure, that’s not an overwhelming percentage – nor
is the 40 percent of business units that agree IT plays
a critical strategic role – but it is a far cry from the less
than two in 10 that view IT in the most negative terms
(as being unable to understand business problems or
having a tendency to slow things down.)
And while the influence of business executives over
technology budgets has grown, even within business
units that hold their own tech budget, the most com-
mon approach – taken by six in 10 business units with
their own technology budgets – is to initiate projects in
conjunction with internal IT departments, show Comp-
TIA’s findings. “This matches findings from previous
studies showing that business units typically keep IT
involved, even if they are making the final decision.”
Perhaps this should come as little surprise, considering
that IT’s involvements can help contain the two biggest
problems typically associated with shadow IT: security
and integration, two things that even the most tech-savvy
business executives likely know little about.
“The early view on rogue IT was that business units
might select applications that worked well in a vacuum
but caused headaches in the context of overall company
architecture,” the CompTIA study explains.
“It certainly appears that business units have learned
these lessons,” continues the study. Even in the relatively
short time CompTIA has been examining rogue IT in studies
on cloud computing, “the complete sidestepping of IT has
gone down, and those companies that have done so have ex-
perienced the expected issues with integration and security.”
Incidentally, harsh realizations made regarding inte-
gration and security also could be reversing the once-
seemingly inevitable trend toward BYOD. CompTIA’s
most recent findings show companies actually moving
away from BYOD as a primary method, with 34 percent
of IT professionals saying their companies allowed “no
BYOD” in 2013 compared to 53 percent that reported
a “no BYOD” policy in 2015. The number of companies
reporting “full BYOD” also dipped slightly. Techaisle, for
its part, found that while BYOD is rather widespread
among SMBs (36 percent of the devices used by small
businesses), more than half of small firms surveyed said
that all or essentially all of the mobile devices in use
are owned by the business, and nearly 25 percent of
midmarket enterprises own more than 90 percent of the
mobile device portfolio.
All the while, analyst groups such as Gartner are advis-
ing IT departments not to overreact to the threat posed
by shadow or rogue IT or panic about losing control of IT
procurement, but instead CIOs should embrace the trend.
“Rather than try to fight the tide, the IT organization
should develop a framework that outlines when it is ap-
propriate for business units and individuals to use their
own technology solutions and when IT should take the
lead,” says Gartner. “IT should position itself as a business
partner and consultant that does not control all technology
decisions in the business.”
Even so, the relationship between IT and business
units is sure to have its ups and down, good times and
bad times. And we can always expect some level of inter-
departmental friction. After all, the vast majority of IT de-
partments are extremely or highly confident in their abil-
ity to apply technology to business goals, while nearly half
of business units feel IT could do more to become familiar
with business goals, and just more than half still see IT in
a support or tactical role rather than a strategic role.
As an upshot, technology sales reps might increasingly
find themselves playing the role of a type of arbitrator, help-
ing one side understand the actual technology and its imple-
mentation, while helping the other side understand the big
picture objectives in terms of
marketing, competition and
revenue. In other words, it
won’t be a matter of picking
sides between IT and business
but more a matter of bringing
the two sides together.
“Pitches for technology
will often need to go beyond
specifications and features,”
says CompTIA, “to include
user experience, innovative
potential and overall integra-
tion across separate func-
tional areas.”
p
Source: CompTIA
Primary Steps Business Units Take
With Their Tech Budgets
CompTIA
nies Moving Away from BYOD as the Primary Device Method
2013
2014
2015
hanges in Technology Budgets
2%
2%
6%
4%
IT Function Increase
IT Function Steady
IT Function Decrease
siness Unit Increase
usiness Unit Steady
siness Unit Decrease
Business Respondents
IT Respondents
Source: CompTIA
Business
Unit Responsibility
Shared Responsibility IT Responsibility
Seeking out new forms of technology
31%
53%
40%
7%
45%
5%
50%
34%
8%
10%
59%
41%
42%
17%
No BYOD
Partial BYCD
Full BYOD
Initiate
projects with
internal IT
Procure
technology
directly
Contract
with outside
firm
band
50%
ia & Pacific
(1726m)
Source: CompTIA
Primary Steps Business Units Take
With Their Tech Budg t
Source: CompTIA
Companies Moving Away from BYOD as the Primary Device Method
2013
2014
2015
Source: CompTIA
Division of Responsibilities in Digital Organizations
Business
Unit Responsibility
Shared Responsibility IT Responsibility
Understanding technical details behind business systems
Ensuring that workforce has the tools they need
Creating business insights from corporate data
Keeping data secure and confidential
Meeting business objectives with technology
Seeking out new forms of technology
31%
47%
31%
53%
40%
7%
45%
5%
50%
34%
58%
8%
10%
59%
22%
22%
52%
27%
22%
47%
32%
43%
39%
19%
22%
55%
23%
41%
42%
17%
No BYOD
Partial BYCD
Full BYOD
Initiate
projects with
internal IT
Procure
technology
directly
Contract
with outside
firm