I have a colleague who I really like, and he's taking a bit of time to help me with a project that requires access to an application that he, by chance, is the only one with administrative access to. I'm an IT administrator, and have access to...just about everything, but by coincidence, not this.
He's senior to me, but in a different department (mind you we are each in a department of two people), and has made it clear that he's happy to help but only has a limited amount of time. However, I know that I could move this project along entirely on my own if given access to this application, but he seems to be avoiding it totally (in a friendly but evasive way). I think it is to protect his 'turf', so to speak, given that this is a very important application and he is the only one who is experienced in it (as he is the only one with access to it, and one of very few technically savvy people at the organization; this makes him invaluable, as this is a core application).
I'm looking for suggestions on how best to navigate this given the below information:
It's totally friendly
I want to get administrative access
I don't want to harm my relationship with my colleague
I want to ensure he feels secure in his role as "master" of that domain, while also granting me access