Pleasing Google's Tech-Savvy Staff

The recent WSJ interview with Google's CIO Douglas Merrill is both likely to inspire and terrify most CIOs, particularly given that most Google employees are both users and technologists. Google would on the face of it have a very laissez-faire approach to IT. Rather than have a core IT strategy that determines what the staff can/cannot do, Mr Merrill is happy for individuals to pursue whatever technology takes their fancy. This sounds like a support nightmare, but Google gets around it by:
a - Trading the cost of the nightmare (support) against the creativity that might emerge
b - Investing in an IT infrastructure that in effect makes the working environment safe.

Thus employees feel less 'locked down' and more inclined to innovate.

This is a tricky balance to achieve and perhaps one needs Google's free cash to achieve it. However a message for less risk averse CIOs is that getting the core infrastructure right can provide an environment within the IT function that promotes innovation, rather than the usual boring 'IT as a tool for cost management'. And the message for the CEO is that the sooner your IT and user communities morph into one the sooner you are likely to play in the Google league.

(The WSJ article is also being discussed at Just Do I.T. and the WSJ technology blog)