W11 - IT Bimodal

I recently revisited Gartner’s early concept of bimodal IT. The core idea is to divide IT governance into two modes from a demand perspective — Mode 1 focuses on domains that are well understood and largely predictable, emphasizing continuous reliability, like a marathon runner. Mode 2 addresses unknown, novel problems, aiming to manage uncertainty through exploration and experimentation, emphasizing agility, like a sprinter.

Business requirements can be categorized into two types: capability-driven and exploratory. These two parts have different iteration characteristics: capability building has long iteration cycles, while exploratory initiatives iterate quickly. They also impose different demands on delivery cadence and stability. Over the long term, it’s reasonable for an organization to distinguish commonalities and differences in structure and processes and apply a divide-and-conquer approach to iteration and governance.