C H A P T E R
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Us and Them

At first glance, the term “us and them” does not necessarily have a negative connotation. The word “and” is usually indicative of something additive or inclusive. But when it comes to an Information Technology (IT) organization and the business it supports, use of the word “and” is far more indicative of something divisive than additive. This was not always the case.

When I started my IT career more than 30 years ago, IT organizations were the newest and most exciting addition to business since the first assembly lines sparked the Industrial Revolution. Computers, previously limited to government, military, and research environments, now offered endless opportunity and potential to the business world. Though quite expensive and with significant barriers to entry, businesses able to afford dedicated IT organizations realized amazing benefits almost immediately. The low hanging fruit of a seemingly endless crop of inefficient, time-consuming manual processes offered one automation opportunity after another. IT organizations started popping up everywhere, building data processing centers supported by syst....them