Even in the most stuffy, old-school bureaucratic enterprises there are great people who just want to get work done. And doing so often means looking past the enterprisey systems and procedures mandated by corporate IT. Accenture is calling this phenomenon “user-determined computing”:

Today, home technology has outpaced enterprise technology, leaving employees frustrated by the inadequacy of the technology they use at work. As a result, employees are demanding more because of their ever-increasing familiarity and comfort level with technology. It’s an emerging phenomenon Accenture has called “user-determined computing.”

Right on. We salute these people for trying to be the best they can despite of the organization around them. It’s so very easy to just give up and not care when you’re being stifled by mandates written by people who care even less.

It makes us smile when we see rebel factions from all over the Fortune 500 and beyond sidestep their enterprisey environments and sign up for our products. And likewise, it makes us sad when we get cancelation notices from people who regret their need to stop using the products because corporate IT feels like they can built a better mousetrap internally. Those notices usually drip with disillusion.

In any case, it’s great to see more attention being paid to this phenomenon, even if the term coined by Accenture doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue.