I have been on both sides of the divide and my view is that the overcomplicated designs are more hazardous. If one understands the end user and their requiremen

I have been on both sides of the divide and my view is that the overcomplicated designs are more hazardous. If one understands the end user and their requirements, one is generally able to steer them in the appropriate direction. However, the general view of IT departments is that they just dictate what they want and not help with what is needed. policy is set and then demanded to be followed with little or no justification to the end user why and how it will benefit the end user. The number of times that I as IT professional (designer, developer, etc) have had to fight the IT department over some problem to get it solved is far too many. Instead of fixing or changing something that will allow end users to actually get on with their word, IT departments are seen as dictatorial time wasters who don't get back to you to sort out what is needed. Part of our job is to think of failure scenarios and disaster recovery. This should not get in the road of those using the systems being put in place. The end user has a job to do, we as professionals should be providing good solution to enhance as well as protecting them from any disasters.