Now It's Time for the Hybrid IT Worker

“Hybrid IT” is a well-worn term, referring to the blend of in-house and cloud-based IT resources that enterprises routinely use. But little has been said about the emerging need for hybrid IT workers who can man the trenches in central IT, or in end-user departments equally well—and must in all cases find ways to bridge the communication and political gaps between business users and IT.

The need to be a bridge builder between IT and end users couldn't be greater:

Meanwhile, business users continue to view IT as unresponsive and insensitive, as evidenced by a physician acquaintance of mine who recently shared her frustration with IT after she called an IT help desk to assist her with a new system.

“I was told to just read the FAQ notes and that I should be able to figure it out myself,” she said. “The response made me feel insignificant and angry. I thought to myself, “So if you think you are so good, let’s see how you do if you’re called upon to make a cancer diagnosis,” but I stopped short of doing that because it wasn’t a reaction I wanted to show.”

Maybe not. But there is a lot of user anxiety about IT response times and insensitivity to the business. This has been a major reason why shadow IT and citizen development have grown. 

These trends and frustrations are also causing some CIOs to rethink IT deployment.

Read the rest of this article on InformationWeek.