Starting in 2021, Everyone is in IT

What do you call a world where everyone is an IT technologist and contributor? Where an app or solution can be instantaneously leveraged to solve a business challenge? Not sure, but for this blurb, I’ll coin the term ‘Everyone IT’. And it’s here. Now.

Mini-Mikey-Millenial Gets a Taste for Tech

Quick stroll on memory lane for context: It’s the summer of 1995, Nirvana has blown up, grunge is reaching its peak, and Dr. Martens are on everyone's wish list. Right up there was also a little PC game called Doom. My parents had just purchased a 486 computer with a 4X CD-ROM, 8MB memory, and Windows 95. It screeeaaammmeed... And, it was my gateway to Doom. (now granted, I had already crushed my dad's work computer, a 386 Compaq laptop trying to run Mega Man. Yeah, he had to send it in to corporate, lol)

I grabbed a copy of doom from a friend (two 3.5" floppies I think), and started to 'install' it. Oh my: Hack, hack, copy, run, c:\windows delete files, copy files, hack, hack....and voila, Doom! I walked away very proud. (considering now you can run Doom on a pregnancy test)

Then my mom tried to use the computer: Encarta, broken; WordPerfect, gone! I was IN trouble. I ended up fixing it (I don't remember how), but the itch was there: I loved to make/fix /break things on a computer. And my thus started my technology journey.

Users: 2007 to Now: An Unexpected Journey

After my home-ucation, my professional life aligned with technology in 2003. With some good mentoring and room to run, I quickly realized something that would change my trajectory: Those who used technology weren't involved in technology decisions. Sure, they were consulted, customer requirements were somewhat aligned, etc. But at the time there was zero user acceptance testing. More critically, the software solutions at the time leaned heavily on consulting and implementation. Users were an afterthought.

I tried to spend time with users understanding the 'why' or 'how' they used things that I built or introduced, but my approached lacked management backing or approved solutions. It was like hacking Doom all over again.

In 2007, two key things shaped myself and the industry: A return to session-based computing (hosted apps, data, and even an OS in the datacenter), and the Apple iPhone (iOS specifically). I remember the Apple live stream and seeing what seemed like alien-tech in a solid metal-bodied device. And users went nuts. I mean, crazy! I remember trying to figure out (before MDMs (mobile device management)) how to connect a device to Microsoft Exchange, or keep corporate data secure. It was a nightmare balancing the two. But the key takeaway: The iPhone forced us in IT to adopt something. For the first time in my career, users had the ability to get access to corporate resources without IT. Mindblowing.

By 2011, disruption by users was in full swing. I had just spent the entire month of December 2010 setting up 100 iPads with individual App Store accounts and apps. I literally sat in a white room for hours updating, signing in, purchasing, downloading, etc.

It was awful.

Part of this journey was configuring an RDP session on the iPad to access our ERP at the time. Our sales people could then quote products on-the-fly in real time. The IT management of ensuring user access, VPN tokens, etc was difficult to say the least, but it meant our users were at the cutting edge. It wasn't Doom, but it was something cooler: It was a revolution of user choice.

Today, users influence and drive almost every aspect of IT decision making. If IT doesn't connect with users then users will find a solution outside of IT. This is definition of shadow IT.

Can't share files? Download via Dropbox or collaborate on Google Workspaces. Need to spin up some new software to test? Throw down a credit card and spin up some IT resources on AWS or Azure. Call and chat securely on Signal or make video calls via Facetime or Zoom. There's literally an 'app' for everything these days.

Enterprise software vendors are also aligning to users with key solutions design to put users first. Microsoft M365 users now have options to choose whether an app can be used on its own or managed via the organization.

Thankfully, we may be on the cusp of breaking this user-dystopian trend.

The Low/No-Code, Post-Pandemic World of Technology Anywhere, Developed from Everyone

225 years ago, the industrialization of civilization was just beginning. Slowly, machines made everyday life easier, commoditized, and available to anyone: Businesses were built, industries sprang up, and life became automated. These days when you need a lawn mower serviced or you car's oil changed (soon to be going away), services abound to ensure this is completed quickly at minimal cost. We don't stop to consider how we got here. But this is progress that took almost 175 years to achieve.

By comparison, in 25 years, digital technology has done for the world what the first industrial revolutions took centuries to complete. Culminating during COVID-19, the first pandemic of the new millennium, technology's mark is now solidified.

On April 30th, 2020, Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella delivered Microsoft's first COVID-Era earnings report. He said this:

“We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months. From remote teamwork and learning, to sales and customer service, to critical cloud infrastructure and security—we are working alongside customers every day to help them adapt and stay open for business in a world of remote everything.”

And things won't slow down.

Gartner recently reported that by 2024, 80% of technology products and services will be built by those who are not technology professionals. That's staggering. Gartner goes on to report that "...the COVID-19 crisis, [which] has only expanded the amount and type of use cases technology is needed to fulfill. In 2023, Gartner anticipates that $30 billion in revenue will be generated by products and services that did not exist pre-pandemic.

Gartner VP Rajesh Kandaswamy gave VentureBeat his thoughts about this trend:

“The barrier to become a technology producer is falling due to low-code and no-code development tools,” . When asked what kinds of tech products and services these findings apply to, he [Rajesh Kandaswamy] said “all of them.”"

Further Gartner insight mentioned that "COVID-19 also reduced barriers for those outside of IT to create technology-based solutions by providing an entry point for anyone who was able to serve pandemic-induced needs. These entrants include nontechnology professions within enterprises – or “business technologists” – citizen developers, data scientists and AI systems that generate software... By 2042, Gartner predicts over one-third of technology providers will be competing with non-technology providers."

Everyone IT INCLUDES IT!

'Everyone IT' is the future. Your users, whether you know it or not, are already forging ahead and finding solutions. It's up to you to decide how to engage.

Right now, you have a choice: Embrace the disruption users bring to your organization and find ways to work with them, or face the consequences of their solutions.

So how can you adapt to this? Consider some of the following ideas:

• Create a role in your organization for a 'chief user officer' or director of user technology solutions. This role would fall squarely into the realm of engaging your organization's users to find ideas to help accelerate technology solutions. As an example, in the American healthcare industry there's the concept of a CMIO or chief medical information officer who's role it is to bring doctor's and technology together. The CUO fits a similar mold
• Consider and get to know your younger workforce; those that are from Generation Z now in the early stages of their careers. All they've known is technology. They solve technical issues daily in the personal and professional lives.
• Hold company-wide hackathons. Present the organization's technology problems to your users. Spiff or incentivize them to help solve these. Not only may you find solutions, you'll find new talent and bridge the gap towards a healthier culture.
• At a minimum, create basic processes to allow for great ideas to be heard. I am surprised and even disappointed that even technology focused organizations don't have processes to bring new ideas to light. I've had so many conversations of my own where the frustrations of peers surround an idea they have for something that needs improvement. This starts at the executive team and must be accountable through management chains to succeed.

Overall, technology has changed everything. My good ol' days of hacking Doom are long gone, but its legacy and lessons are cemented in my mind. The question remains, will you allow yourself to change with it?