At an individual level, we compete with others who might be able to do a better job, or do things for a lower cost.  At a corporate level, our companies compete each and every day for customers.

Organizations within companies have learned to compete as well. If you deliver a service to the business, there are always external competitors who'd like to show your internal customers a better, faster, cheaper way to get things done.

I believe the necessity to compete for internal customers is the primary engine behind IT-as-a-service concepts. 

Fail to successfully compete, and your internal customers will likely go outside to get what they need.

In this post, I'd like to share with the the most cogent explanation I've seen on this topic to date: what's happening, what it means to IT organizations everywhere, and -- most importantly -- what you can do about it.

Welcome To The New IT Department

The best way to get into this discussion is to take the perspective of the business person who'd like to get something important done. 

Maybe it's a new requirement, maybe it's a new idea, maybe it's a new marketplace -- it doesn't matter.

As a business person at EMC, I often start presentations by introducing my new IT department -- it's my corporate credit card.  I can potentially consume a *lot* of IT externally without having to really answer to anyone if I choose.

These external providers offer attractive services, and let me select and consume what I need with a minimum of length approvals, negotiations, project requests, planning meetings, etc.  Bottom line: if I can find what I need externally, I win.  I can get where I'm going faster.

Now, in all fairness, there are policies and practices in place that are designed to keep me from doing unwise things, but I've got considerable lattitude nonetheless.  Especially if I can get something going before anyone finds out.

The truth behind this phenomenon is simple: we now have a generation of knowledge workers, managers and business leaders that are quite comfortable with technology.  They use it every day, and they know what's out there.  Personal information technology isn't the mystery it was ten or twenty years ago.

When I hear people use the phrase "consumerization of IT", it isn't about the technology getting dumber; it's about the IT consumers getting smarter -- and more demanding.

Where Will Your Business Source IT Requirements?

I know what many of the IT professionals reading this might be thinking: "well, we have policies in place to keep that sort of thing from happening".

I'm sure you do, but -- frankly -- I think you're underestimating the persistence of a motivated business worker, manager or leader. 

Collectively, we're trained and encouraged to solve problems and find creative solutions -- and if that means going outside of enterprise IT, so be it.  Better to ask forgiveness than ask permission.

As a popular example, it's an infrequent case when Salesforce.com's CRM application is brought forward by the IT department as a "better solution".  Or Google Mail.  Or Dropbox.  Or iPads, for that matter :)

The bottom line?  People have more choices than ever -- and there's no turning back.

Enterprise IT Customers Are Looking Elsewhere

Need evidence?  There's plenty to be found -- if not in your immediate range, then certainly from any number of authoritative external sources.

Even though the numbers shown here are substantial, I think they're understated in several regards. 

The more of a knowledge worker you are, the more likely you're using external IT services and devices to get your job done.  As business models shift rapidly in favor of these knowledge workers, you'll likely see even higher rates of unauthorized IT usage.

Besides, who would admit to a survey taker that they're doing something, err, unapproved?

The prognosis is clear: every year, you'll see more external services, better external services -- and better marketed external services.  There are untold billions being invested in external service provider models, and they're targeting the people who can use their services -- sometimes with the cooperation of IT, sometimes not.

Something to look forward to: just imagine what happens when all those corporate Apple users get their hands on iCloud...

IT Organizations Must Now Learn To Compete

I often get asked by journalists and analysts as to what might be driving all this interest in IT-as-a-service. 

It's simple: IT organizations now have to learn to compete for their internal customers, just like other internal corporate support functions.

Fail to learn to compete, and the future is not pretty.

For starters, IT can lose control -- if they haven't already.  Whether the "shadow IT" is showing up in desktops and closets, or at any number of external service providers, people inevitably find a way to get their jobs done.

Continue to lose control, and internal IT inevitably becomes less relevant to the people they serve.  Becoming less relevant inevitably results in budget cuts, staffing cuts, or often both.  That's how the world works.

To continue reading this article on Chuck's blog, click here.

Chuck Hollis is VP & Global Marketing CTO at EMC Corporation.