Meet the new boss, same as the old boss

In case you haven't noticed yet, we're going through another round of power struggles in the IT industry. Oh, that might not look like what's going on. On the surface what people are saying is that it's a matter of web-based vs. desktop applications. Frequently these conversations are based on the premise that it's a discussion of the technical merits.

Nope. It's the return of the glass house. Peel back all the rationalizations about easier deployment, easier support, more consistency, and what it really comes down to is more control. If we can just keep the software out of the users' hands then everything will be okay.

But what history shows us is that users like having control of their "stuff". Taking that control away requires either redefining "their stuff" to be "our stuff", or convincing them that they aren't qualified to handle their stuff.

Is this what your customers are hearing from you?