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All of the above, plus vanity projects. If certain people want a system, in many enterprises everyone below will bend over backwards to get it for them. I wil

All of the above, plus vanity projects. If certain people want a system, in many enterprises everyone below will bend over backwards to get it for them. I will give you an example. A few years ago every c had a BlackBerry. IT ran BlackBerry business server alongside Exchange. Everyone was happy. One day a non-exec got an iPhone from his other job and wanted his emails from your co on the same device. There is no way to resist these requests, they will have it. Need to upgrade Exchange? Do it then, need to turn on web services, do it then. Need to hire back that team from Cisco for the week to sort the router, do it then. Need to hire the compliance consultant to rewrite your policies...etc. When senior people want a toy they will have it (as long as it doesn't upset the other board members toys). I guess that suggests that being the toy is the way to shortcut the long enterprise buying pattern. That or being the missing link that lets an IT manager deploy said toy more easily.

codeisawesome 7y ago
How do these people become so powerful..? What do they have to give in exchange?
- unionpivo 7y ago
  they decide on peoples bonuses, and who gets fired/promoted.
- jimnotgym 7y ago
  In the case of non-execs, they are often insisted on by investors. They are seasoned board members to keep the execs in order, that kind of thing. They have little operational interest in the company, and instead bring 'corporate governance'. They have a part to play in managing the board, not the company. They make investors feel better about investing in a company run by some technology upstart with no track record. In the UK they would probably be senior (perhaps semi-retired) auditors or corporate lawyers. They may also be people with a track record in that industry, designed to open doors. Institutional investors tend to be pretty conservative, and these are their sort of people.
  - codeisawesome 7y ago
    Got it - thanks for the helpful insight!

codeisawesome 7y ago

How do these people become so powerful..? What do they have to give in exchange?

unionpivo 7y ago
they decide on peoples bonuses, and who gets fired/promoted.
jimnotgym 7y ago
In the case of non-execs, they are often insisted on by investors. They are seasoned board members to keep the execs in order, that kind of thing. They have little operational interest in the company, and instead bring 'corporate governance'. They have a part to play in managing the board, not the company. They make investors feel better about investing in a company run by some technology upstart with no track record. In the UK they would probably be senior (perhaps semi-retired) auditors or corporate lawyers. They may also be people with a track record in that industry, designed to open doors. Institutional investors tend to be pretty conservative, and these are their sort of people.
- codeisawesome 7y ago
  Got it - thanks for the helpful insight!