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Guerrilla IT, Embracing the Superuser?
snydeq writes "First it's letting users manage their own PCs and now it's sanctioning the shadow IT projects they do on the down low: 'You probably know them. They're the ones who installed their own Wi-Fi network in the break room and distribute homemade number-crunching apps to their coworkers on e-mail. They're hacking their iPhones right now to work with your company's mail servers. In short, they're walking, talking IT governance nightmares. But they could be your biggest assets, if you use them wisely. The reason superusers go rogue is usually frustration, says Marquis. "It's a symptom of the IT organization being unable to meet or even understand the needs of its customers," he says. "Otherwise, it wouldn't be happening." The solution? Put them to work.'"
It's certainly not perfect, but my gigantic fortune 500 company does this and everything seems to be just fine. This combined with the fact that the PC support people are braindead.
Just because someone can plug a device into a data jack does NOT mean they're a "SuperUser".
Yeah, that might work at HOME. But in the OFFICE someone (me) has to be responsible for security of our data. That includes YOUR social security number in HR's database.
If you do not like the "restrictions" you are working under, then explain to YOUR boss how much more money you'll make for the company if you get X. And your boss will talk to my boss and I will explain how much it will take to implement X (money, time, security changes, etc).
If the net is an increase in profits, we'll probably do it.
If it will open us up to a new risk WITHOUT an increase in profits, I don't care how much you love your idea. It's not going to happen.
Writing code which floods the network with packets? Crashes workstations? Worse, crashes servers?
Deletes logfiles? Rewrites config files?
Sorry - if it's my name on the line for a given piece of equipment, I want control of that piece of equipment. I left a place last February where that wasn't strictly true - and I'm relatively certain my fellow outsourced contractors were breaking stuff. I never did decide if it was accidental or intentional, but the missing log files made me go "hmmm . . .".