¶ … policies do exist in one form or another. The policies in place that spur these ten scenarios are generally the type of backward scenarios that Mr. Evans discusses. While Mr. Evans indicates that IT departments serve a higher purpose, his response is one more of indignation about the suggestion that IT departments are petty, rather than a factual refutation of the claim. The impact would be minor. None of the policies Ms. Vara mocks have any particular€ relevance other than to save IT departments the effort of enacting real security measures.
What Mr. Evans should have done is to explain the role of the IT department in the corporation, as he envisions it. Clearly, Mr. Evans has a vision of IT being an integral component of corporate strategy and security. He likens the task to the Finance department, another critical line function. However, financial policies are driven by accounting standards and laws, and are relatively transparent. Mr. Evans does not address the fact that the policies Ms. Vara mocks are murky in the motivations. It is this murkiness that drives discord among employees and prompts articles such as Ms. Vara's.
Ultimately, the role of IT has moved far beyond the gatekeeper of bits flowing through the corporate IT networks. The profession must carefully define that role, however. In attacking Ms. Vara, Mr. Evans is attacking the messenger. He should pay more heed to the message.
Information technology can be critical to corporate strategy. The rapid, easy flow of information is central to the fulfillment of this role. The policies Ms. Vara mocks run counter to this fundamental element of IT. Security is important, but roadblocks should be justified, and in addition they should be communicated. Employees are not born to rebel against IT's policies, they do so because those policies do not fit any known strategic objective. If they do fit a strategic objective, nobody knows about it. The sooner IT departments stop obfuscating their role and contribution to corporate objectives, the sooner they will cease to be the object of derision.
