For years, companies have struggled with organizational silos, departments not sharing information, multiple initiatives, conflicting priorities, etc. Organizations have come a long way since then. Digital technology has done a lot to unite organizations and bring companies together. Maybe too good of a job. Have we now moved to “digital Silos”?
We just launched our new YouTube channel. To start the Channel, we needed to bring over the TransformIT Show which was filmed back when we were the IT Transformation Institute. The videos were under a Brand Channel DigitalFuture.tv. (If you don’t know about YouTube Brand channels, consider yourself lucky.) Of course, I needed to login using the Gmail accounts from that time. Even though I had all the passwords, security questions, etc. Google kept popping up a message that said “We have detected suspicious activity on your account and need to confirm your identity. We have sent a code to your Galaxy S2 tablet.” Which I had not used in over a year. After waiting for it to power up and getting the code, I finally managed to login. But that is when the real problems started.
Because I was switching from our current Gmail account to the old account and to the brand account, Google kept giving me the same “suspicious behavior” message EVERY TIME. In a couple of hours, I must have gone through the same verification procedures a couple dozen times. All to protect a YouTube account. Most security checks allow you to designate a device as “trusted”,so you do not have to verify every time. Even though I was using the same computer (MAC address), IP address and browser, I was never given that option. At last everything was moved to our new YouTube channel and I thought I was finally done with this security paranoia.
We also planned to make a Podcast from one of our new YouTube shows, Digital Experience Revolution. I used a service to setup the podcast on multiple channels. It went smoothly until I got to Apple. In order to setup a Podcast, I needed an Apple ID. I created one and then it said, I needed an iTunes store account. When I tried to create one from my Windows PC, it would not let me. I needed an Apple device. I finally managed to download iTunes for Windows to my PC (also a problem is you are not on Windows 10) and created my iTunes account. After a lot of hard work, the show is finally available as an Apple podcast. (This show is also available on Google, Deezer, Radio Republic, SoundCloud, and Spotify.)
In both cases, Google and Apple indicated using anything but their devices were a security risk and made me jump through hoops to accomplish simple tasks. Even using Gmail in a non-Gmail app on an Android phone makes you check an option that you want to use an “unsecure” app. Have we created new “Digital” silos? Have we done such a good job uniting companies that only want to work within their own ecosystem?
Think about streaming services and the wars that are going on about what device the service is available on. For example: Apple TV+ is not available on Android. Have we really removed the silos, or have we just pushed them outside the walls of our company? Have we entered the age of “Digital” silos?
John has spent more than three decades in the IT services industry, working with industry leaders like AT&T, AT&T Solutions and British Telecom. He has led numerous multimillion dollar, multiyear outsourcing and service-delivery engagements for dozens of Fortune 500 firms.
John has extensive experience helping companies evolve into Digital Enterprises by approaching the change from a behavioral and cultural perspective. Transformation is not something you do to an organization. It’s an attitude and an approach and starts with helping people understand why the “status quo” must change. And more importantly, how this change will impact them.
John served as Board of Trustees Member for the Enright Melanoma Foundation, the Executive Committee for NJ SIM Chapter, the Leadership Team of NJ itSMF LIG, and was a contributor to CIO Insight.
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