Stealth IT with low code options

Numerous procedures, regulations, and risk mitigation measures govern Information Technology (IT). Software Technology keeps moving forward, enabling technically savvy employees to solve problems. The solutions available today are low-code/no-code tools, Robotic Automation using desktop applications, and Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.

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IT as an organization has always found it challenging to maintain a governance structure to protect business assets and manage organizational risk. Tools have been developed to ensure that change requests are fully vetted and that the software implemented functions as intended. Whole structures are available to IT for security, change management, release management, and software upgrades.

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These systems and processes take time. A typical comment within IT when asked how long it will take to implement a minor change is 10 minutes for the change and two days for the paperwork. It sounds excessive, but it is true. The primary mission of IT is to keep the systems running with high reliability and minimal downtime.

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Enter business-owned applications or business-developed applications. This is where the governance structure is controlled within domains such as Manufacturing, R&D or HR for instance. I've had the privilege of working for a couple of start-up companies, where all applications were business-owned. The changes could be quickly implemented, and while business risk was high, the IT department was able to formalize the structure within the business-owned framework. The approach was to authorize key business personnel to make changes, yet follow the change management structure. The change management process was intentionally light with approvals at the right level. This allowed the business to quickly adapt to the changing environment while minimizing business risk, a promising model for the future of IT governance.

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Conversely, I worked for a large multinational company where IT owned all the applications. Business solutions were limited to spreadsheets, access databases, or other desktop tools. Control was high, but flexibility was low. Desktop applications filled the gap between enterprise system applications and solving business problems. The issue with that approach was that the desktop applications became the single source of truth.

Further, they would not scale to the enterprise. It was common to have a project that started out as Stealth IT handed over to IT to "fix" the application so that it would become an official, IT-supported application. For instance, an MS Access database that exceeded the data storage limit would need to be ported to Oracle or another SQL database.

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I recently undertook a PMI course on 'Citizen Development'. This approach, which I believe can significantly transform the issue of Stealth IT, is a testament to the collaborative nature of our work. It is IT's role to design a framework that allows business-developed code into the ecosystem. Information Technology then collaborates with the internal developers to ensure proper controls are implemented. This approach makes sense when the threshold of automation and user development has been lowered to include any technically savvy employee.

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Personally, I have a unique perspective, having transitioned from the business side into IT. I was working in manufacturing and saw a need to collect data to improve processes. First, I started out managing standard costs using Visio and Lotus spreadsheets. Then, under the guidance of IT, I began writing Job Control Language to build systems. I was simultaneously taking programming courses at night school. This personal journey has shaped my belief that allowing people to create code and to automate business problems in conjunction with IT professionals is the key to ensuring that functional and non-functional requirements are covered.