What Would You Demand From Your IT Department?

ZombieLine asks: "The IT department at my company (approximately some 500 people) is showing signs of incompetence, and has been ignoring knowledgeable user input for about a year. Additionally, they haven't been able to sell needed changes to senior management. Unacceptable server down time, maxed network storage, and no backups systems have hit the bottom line, and those on top are starting to notice. We users are staging a revolt to make IT more responsive to users by creating a group from the company divisions and IT to discuss needs and solutions. What would you put in our charter?" What services and responsibilities would you demand out of your IT department?

Comments

Re:What would you demand from your IT users?

[shmlco]

This is exactly what I was thinking when I read the post. If management is refusing to fund new hardware, software, and services, then they're saddling up the posse and chasing after the wrong bad guy.

Your mention of quarterly reports is also a good one. Too many of the clueless think that their demands are somehow reality, not realizing that dollars have to come from somewhere.

Third, the question ignores their own responsibility. One question they should be asking is: What can we do to help? Or better, what can "I" do to help?

If half the people in the company are streaming music and torrents and downloading porn over the companies net, and storing those files and three years worth of (your favorite list) newsgroup lists in their email boxes, and opening every attachment that comes down the pike, then it's no wonder the system is hosed.