Leader: RIP the IT department?

Anyone who is still in doubt about the impact of the iPod and Google generation on the future of the corporate IT department need only look at the example currently being set by oil giant BP.

BP is pioneering an innovative 'do-it-yourself' IT support scheme for some of its employees - giving them $1,000 to buy their own kit and take care of their own IT support.

That scheme is being led by Jim Ginsburgh, VP of enterprise architecture at BP, who said the driver for it came when he noticed some people were having a better computing experience in the home than in the office.

The boundaries, role and responsibilities of the corporate IT department are changing - and anyone still standing there King Canute-like trying to hold back the tide will be washed away.

Many tech staff out there might be expected to sneer at a project like this with the 'never trust a user' mantra but the simple fact is that this is working for BP. The sky hasn't fallen in and Ginsburgh says those taking part in the scheme are taking better care of their equipment and spending less on support than before - so in addition to giving staff more freedom and flexibility, it's saving money too.

It is yet another example of how the boundaries, role and responsibilities of the corporate IT department are changing - and anyone still standing there King Canute-like trying to hold back the tide will be washed away.

silicon.com columnist Peter Cochrane was recently roundly criticised after he told an audience of CIOs that the tech-savvy MySpace generation are bringing about the demise of the traditional IT department - and that they should be embraced and welcomed as a positive, if disruptive, force.

'Kids and IT means chaos not creativity' was the perhaps predictable response to Cochrane's prediction from silicon.com readers in server rooms up and down the country.

But the simple fact is that the rules are changing. Just look at online retail giant Amazon, which may soon become an IT supplier to businesses by renting its spare storage and data hosting capacity to other companies for as little as 15 cents per month per GB.

IT is starting to get exciting again - embrace it or someone else will.