Diving into SMB IT is like entering a chaotic universe where improvisation, illusory security, and cloud dependency weave a story that is both funny, unsettling, and revealing.
Nicolas SAP’s IT Cosmogony unveils the hidden reality of SMB information systems. Far from rational, they grow as hybrid entities—layered quick fixes, shaky security, and technological dependencies. With dark humor, the author likens IT to a “bewitched toaster”: essential yet unpredictable, sometimes useful, sometimes destructive. Weak security, neglected monitoring, cloud illusions, and reliance on U.S. tech giants expose a disorienting cyber reality. This book offers no magic solutions but serves as a sharp mirror for digital infrastructure management. It calls readers to grasp the chaos to better anticipate crises. Underneath lies a disturbing question: is IT disorganization the reflection of fragile corporate governance itself?
Digital Patchwork: The Chaotic Genesis of Information Systems
In Nicolas SAP’s universe, an SMB’s information system never stems from strategy but from forced adjustments. It grows piecemeal, like unchecked organic expansion. Executives demand tools quickly, technicians improvise fixes, and old layers never vanish. The outcome is a clumsy stack.
This logic breeds fragility, where each update risks a domino effect. The metaphor of “digital mold” captures this uncontrolled proliferation, born of economic pressure and lack of planning. The IS becomes an improvised zoo where each server, software, or protocol sits in its cage—yet the doors remain ajar.
This anarchic build reflects the tension between economic survival and technical rationality. Lacking resources for solid architectures, SMBs settle for successive patches. Immediate choices dictate their digital future, often undermining stability and security.
Illusory Security and Digital Fatigue
One of IT Cosmogony’s sharpest critiques targets cybersecurity. Passwords are portrayed as folklore, a blend of naivety and clumsy improvisation. Users bend the rules, convinced centralized solutions can offset negligence.
This leads to what SAP calls “security fatigue.” Employees, overloaded with rules, bypass them. The paradox: the more secure a system appears, the more vigilance drops, fueling a vicious cycle. The illusion of security becomes the real threat, concealing actual weaknesses.
System monitoring follows the same pattern. Supposed to act like a giant stethoscope diagnosing failures, it drowns in ignored alerts until a major crisis hits. This reactive culture shows a structural blindness to proactive oversight.
Thus, SMB cybersecurity does not collapse under sophisticated attacks but under routine and complacency. The most dangerous enemy is internal: the habit of ignoring weak signals.
The Cloud and Invisible Dependency
SAP’s harshest critique strikes the cloud, described as a gilded cage. Behind the promise of simplicity lies irreversible dependency. Migrating to providers like Microsoft or Google locks businesses into ecosystems they cannot exit without exorbitant costs.
This strategic choice carries geopolitical weight. Data hosted by U.S. firms falls under the Patriot Act and Cloud Act, allowing access without warrant—even if stored abroad. This extraterritoriality proves corporate IT is never neutral but enmeshed in global power plays that erode digital sovereignty.
Dependency comes with another illusion: believing outsourcing to the cloud shields from risk. In reality, companies swap internal technical risk for legal and strategic exposure. SAP underscores the paradox with irony: escaping local constraints often leads to even tighter confinement.
Governance in Crisis
IT Cosmogony does not propose a recovery plan. It acts as a mirror, reflecting SMB systems with their absurdities and flaws. The sarcastic tone—peppered with improbable images like the “bewitched toaster”—highlights that the core issue is less technical imperfection than collective blindness.
A question lingers: if information systems evolve through chaos, is this not the symptom of governance where short-term fixes outweigh any sustainable strategy? [ZATAZ News English version]
