Bimodal IT only helps mediocre organisations
Bimodal IT is a delivery model, heavily hyped by Gartner, that defines two modes of operation:
- Mode 1: Delivering and evolving stable, secure, business-critical systems of record in a controlled, highly integrated environment
- Mode 2: Rapidly delivering systems of engagement using exploratory and experimental methods to support digital transformation
Gartner’s Bimodal IT only improves organisations stuck in the ICT dark ages
Differentiating between delivery approaches resonates with many practitioners. However, Gartner’s bimodal model is an oversimplification and introduces nothing fundamentally new.
The tension between agility and stability has existed since the earliest days of IT. Effective organisations manage this tension by tailoring risk management to context — not by bluntly trading quality against speed and cost.
Quality assurance should not be a casualty of speed
Bimodal IT as a stepping stone — not an end state
Mediocre ICT organisations may indeed benefit from moving from a one-size-fits-all delivery model to Gartner’s two-sizes-fit-all approach.
Professional IT organisations, however, already operate differently. They:
- manage risk at the product and service level
- tailor controls based on business criticality
- avoid artificial organisational splits between “slow” and “fast” IT
Market leaders such as Amazon and Google have worked this way from their inception. Their delivery models are driven by risk profiles, supported by Enterprise Release Management practices that provide end-to-end control across all dimensions of IT delivery.
For these organisations, bimodal IT adds no value — it merely formalises practices they have long outgrown.
Conclusion
Bimodal IT is not a transformation model. It is a catch-up mechanism for organisations lacking mature delivery and risk management capabilities.
For organisations that already understand how to balance:
- speed and stability
- innovation and control
- autonomy and governance
bimodal IT is unnecessary at best — and limiting at worst.
