So running it wasn't prevented for you, and new apps listening on the network trigger notifications that the IT checks on immediately. That sounds like a reasonable policy.
Around 1998 I snagged an abandoned 486 and installed Linux on it for use at work; the corporate software I used the most, a ticketing system, could be run using X from a Solaris server. I don't remember what I did for Lotus Notes.
Anyway, the IT department spotted it but since I was using SMB it thought it was just another Windows server. No one ever checked up on it despite being plugged into the corporate network.
This was a Fortune 500 company; things have changed a wee bit since then.
