What is Bimodal IT?

In the modern technology world, there's two currently two camps of thought around how IT should function.

In the fast-paced, quick-release environment we seem to be living through right now, industry mavens are promoting the adoption of the Agile IT movement. Those that are part of the movement should be constantly ready for change, resourceful, and highly adaptable to the ever-changing IT landscape. Implementations that are part of Agile IT don't have to be perfect, just quick.

Traditional IT, on the other hand, is what we're all used to being part of. Traditional IT means careful planning, testing, and deploying with the intent of doing it right the first time, along with preparing remediation up front.

Many industry companies are pushing hard for the "new style of IT," telling CIOs that their IT departments are doing it wrong, or falling behind, because they are not adapting to modern times. But, what they are finding is that, no matter how hard they push, customers are pushing back. It's obvious, though, that industry companies are not slowing down just because customers are not willing to accept it, so eventually IT will have to succumb and catch up.

To help prepare customers for the eventuality, and new concept and buzzword has started proliferating: Bimodal IT.

Bimodal IT is the concept where two distinct IT methodologies exist in the same company, sometimes in two separate teams. The Agile IT team handles the growing needs of the business while Traditional IT continues doing the day-to-day work of ensuring the business technology functions appropriately and securely. Agile IT rolls out today's updates, changes, and quickly evolving technologies, while Traditional IT continues to develop the long-term plans and goals, manages technology budgets, and takes a disciplined approach to deployments.  

What say you? Can two distinct approaches coexist? Can both teams work together?