Slashdot Mirror
Can Developers Work in a 'Locked-Down' Environment?
brad-d queries: "My company is seriously considering enforcing a SOE on all employee computers, including developers. The level of lock-down would likely include baring the Windows registry from changes (and in effect stopping the installation of new software). The goals of this SOE are to prevent users from installing unlicensed software, plus some support issues. What are others experiences with situations like this? Can a developer really work in a lock-down environment? What compromises could be made between developers and IT services? And no, Linux would be likely banned." It depends on how "locked-down" said environment is, and what the developer would be will be working on, however if the Registry is locked with no mechanism provided for the Developer to add in whatever keys are necessary, how much real developing can one do?
This is not security we're talking about here. This is IT lazyness.
IT people, for some reason, have this overwhelming urge to "lock down" environments so that they can limit the wide variety of things they have to support.
In the end, however, you need to look no further than the whole point and purpose of an IT department in the first place:
"To provide employees of a company with the tools they require to do their jobs".
When IT controls that definition "tools they require" - then without a doubt, the people who are trying to do their job become limited in how they work. Quite often, lattitude in how different people do a certain job differently will affect productivity in a HUGE way.
At the other end of the scale, when the end user controls the definition of "tools they require" - then pretty much anything goes, and when something breaks, an IT group can end up spending a lot of time, effort, and money trying to fix problems and keep things running smoothly.
So what we're seeing here is bean-counters running the show. Bean-counters who set up a corporation as a set of departments who have to compete with eachother for their budgets. This is the most counter-productive load of bullshit any person with an ounce of common sense could experience. The whole point of an IT department is to provide service. It's not to bill someone's department for "number of pages printed" or "number of helpdesk calls" - or "number of bits they transferred over the corporate network". When an IT person (or manger) gets the idea that they need to actually BILL people in their own company for services rendered, then they've lost the whole point of being in a company in the first place, and it looks like they'd really rather be running a separate company that basically is an outsourcing firm.
I think this whole notion is just a load of crap.
Give people machines, give them software, teach them how to use it, and leave them the fuck alone so they can do their job. If they want a different machine or platform - then you should, as a Computer Person - learn how to support that platform and fix problems. Otherwise, get the fuck out of the way, and let people who want to learn about different platforms help your company's employees to do their jobs.
IT used to be called MIS, Management Information SERVICES. Then they started calling it IS, or Information Services. Then, somewhere along the way, they scammed their way into dropping the word "Services". So exactly WHAT is the function of this department now? How do they contribute to the productivity of the company as a whole? It seems that nowadays, they only contribute as a barrier, rather than an enabler.
Another bunch of bean-counters trying to justify more headcount and bigger budgets so they can be little Napoleons in their corporate war to dominate their company. What does that have to do with doing business? Nothing. Get rid of the bums, I say.
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
I'm an I.T. Director, and I love busting kids like you.
No, you're just another slashdot troll, moron.
It's so much fun to see the look on your face when you discover your not some "special" prodigy who's above reproach.
Which is how much worse than discovering that you're just a mindless I.T. drone who can't cut it as a developer?
Do your damn job and quit whining.
At least when we do our jobs, we're contributing to the bottom line. I.T. is just overhead, remember.
// TODO: Insert Cool Sig