Conventional wisdom suggests that enterprise IT should steer clear of start-ups, discourage the use of consumer technologies, and focus with razor-sharp intensity on ROI. In today's technology environment, however, these conventions may be holding IT departments--and the organizations they support--back, reports CIO magazine's Tom Kaneshige.

The IT decision-makers at Starkey, a hearing aid manufacturer, obeyed none of these sacred cows when they started deploying iPads and mobile apps for the sales team, executives and other users two years ago. The company's senior vice president of IT, Rob Duchscher, had a long history in Starkey's research and development group, where he had grown accustomed to being hampered by restrictions imposed by the IT department. He learned to bypass IT to get what he wanted.

"I had grown tired of having to argue with our IT department, of having years of roadblocks thrown up at me," Duchscher said. In 2010, he was made senior vice president of IT.

Duchscher moved forward with the iPad deployment without getting too wrapped up in ROI concerns. The devices were good for the company's image among clients, and they gave off an aura of technical sophistication in keeping with Starkey's own products.

One of the apps used often by Starkey's professionals is called Handshake, and it was built by a startup in Australia. Historically, CIOs avoided working with startups because of the risks involved with companies that haven't withstood the test of time. But today, startups are churning out some very useful technologies, and the risks of working with them may be outweighed by the risks of falling behind technologically. 

"The reality is that some of these small companies are doing really cool, innovative things. We're going to give them a shot," Duchscher said, adding that his own apps team can step in and create code if a startup fails. "I'm not ignorantly blissful."

For more:
- see Tom Kaneshige's article at CIO

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