CIOs must change IT teams' negative view of shadow IT initiatives. A leading CIO introduced a "Shallow IT" framework to classify business capabilities into categories based on risk and value. This helps IT understand business needs and when to support experiments. The framework roadmaps capabilities, not technologies, and educates IT to initially allow "shallow" experiments before integrating successful projects at scale. Ultimately, business partners best drive innovation when IT finds the right balance between autonomy and involvement.

1. CEB's IT Blog » CIOs Must Teach a New Attitude Toward Shadow IT
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CEB's IT Blog
CIOs Must Teach a New Attitude Toward Shadow IT
Posted on 4 September 13 by Jamie Heyes
Technology innovations by business partners are often stifled by IT’s fears that the risks of
shadow IT initiatives outweigh the potential value. Leading
CIOs are already taking steps to change their IT team’s mindset through the introduction of a
“Shallow IT” framework, which communicates what business partners are trying to achieve and
where IT staff should (and should not) step in.
As my colleague Andrew wrote, not all shadow IT is a bad thing, and healthy doses can be
extremely beneficial to an organization. What IT employees often struggle with is the distinction
between “healthy” and “unhealthy” shadow IT, and it is no surprise, considering the fact that they
have had a “shut-it down” mentality engrained in them over the past decades. This is something
that needs to change, not only so that IT is better equipped to provide business partners with
technology advice, but also that they know exactly when to get involved.
The framework comes from our latest research into digital marketing (which will be published in
the next few weeks), and provides the CIO at a leading manufacturer with an effective way of
dealing with the many technology experiments that occur in the company’s marketing department.
The framework not only helps IT employees understand what marketers are trying to do with
technology, but also defines a point for IT to step in to help drive integration and scale. The CIO
took three key steps to build the framework.
1) Roadmap Capabilities, Not Technologies: Business capabilities offer greater stability than
technologies and are less likely to change. They also accommodate the many short cycle
experiments business partners undertake. So rather than having business partners talk about what
technologies they want, capabilities help IT understand what they are trying to achieve.
2) Classify Capabilities In Four Categories: Each category is defined by the potential risk and
value that change and experimentation will bring to an organization. From capabilities of Record
and Engagement (see Geoffrey Moore’s, Escape Velocity), to capabilities of Productivity and
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2. CEB's IT Blog » CIOs Must Teach a New Attitude Toward Shadow IT
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Insight. This clear categorization of capabilities helps to change IT employees’ “shut-it down”
mentality, as they can clearly identify the healthy and unhealthy shadow IT experiments.
3) Educate IT On When to Step In: This is where the term “Shallow IT” was coined, as “the
shallows” is the area where business partners can experiment with technology with little or no IT
involvement. A different degree of shallow IT is permitted in each of the four categories from step
2, with IT taking ownership (in “the deep”) earlier on for capabilities where change presents high
levels of risk but low levels of value. Below is an example of a “Productivity Capability”.
Moving to the deep
Moving business partner experiments to the deep is dependent on the type of technology
supporting the capability, and the type of project business partners are undertaking. Business
relationship managers keep track of business partners’ experiments, and will work with a team of
dedicated architects for each capability category to decide when to drive experiments to scale.
Ultimately, business partner led innovation is better than IT doing it, as business partners such as
marketing know more about their terrain and their business objectives than IT. That’s not to say IT
should not be involved at all, and this tactic goes to educate IT staff on a balance that must be
struck so that they can effectively enable business partner innovation.
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