Guerrilla IT, Embracing the Superuser?

snydeq writes "First it's letting users manage their own PCs and now it's sanctioning the shadow IT projects they do on the down low: 'You probably know them. They're the ones who installed their own Wi-Fi network in the break room and distribute homemade number-crunching apps to their coworkers on e-mail. They're hacking their iPhones right now to work with your company's mail servers. In short, they're walking, talking IT governance nightmares. But they could be your biggest assets, if you use them wisely. The reason superusers go rogue is usually frustration, says Marquis. "It's a symptom of the IT organization being unable to meet or even understand the needs of its customers," he says. "Otherwise, it wouldn't be happening." The solution? Put them to work.'"

Comments

on the down low?

[jollyreaper]

I thought that was code in the black community for openly heterosexual males engaging in secret homosexual trysts. Is that really how end-users see dealing with IT? When we make the next supply run, should we throw in some astro-glide, too?

Nonsense! Fire their Ass!

[littlewink]

I work for a large governmental entity that has policing powers and I assure you, such people are worthy of dismissal only. Once you give them an inch, they'll take a mile. As the article states

He or she will do whatever it takes to get the job done without waiting for IT to sign off.

They stop only when they're escorted out the door (or to jail) and then sometimes that's not enough.

People who persist in breaking IT rules after multiple warnings are usually "control freaks". If you give them responsibility, they will end up assuming more than they were granted, arguing with administration, causing chaos and personnel problems.

Best to nip this problem in the bud.

- Been there, done that.

It's just typing with more semmicolons

[Hognoxious]

Put them to work? Good idea - they can start by fixing the mess that all the other amateurs make when they start writing crappy apps and sticking their noses into design decisions they not only don't understand, but don't understand that they don't understand.

take one of these pills

[suck_burners_rice]

As an organization, the IT department should give the corporate users a choice. They can take the blue pill, which means their computer is managed by the IT department. People who aren't knowledgeable about the inner workings of their system and just want to get their work done without getting too sophisticated technically will probably choose this option. Or they can take the red pill and manage their own system, under one condition: The IT department has within it several 1337 h4x0rz who will be allowed to try and hack into these self-managed systems at any time that they wish. So long as they cannot find an exploit, the user is left alone. But if they find an exploit, that user has to buy everyone dinner. Or something along those lines. That way, people who want to control their own systems will have the opportunity to do so, but not in a manner that puts corporate data at risk.

Re:Where do you work?

[bastafidli]

Actually your tone and attitude show who is the jackass.

I am not responsible for reinstalling and reconfiguring all that software. I dont think anybody asked you for this. Or me as as one of those users wouldn't ask you for this. If my computer gets screwed up, then I expect you to put it back to the working shape according to company standards and I take it from there.

I'll restore an image. I'll recover files, though frankly they should already be on the network share. I'll give you a fresh install. That's it. That is what most such users would expect from you and anything more. Except with better attitude. The "that's it" attitude is the exact reason why many IT departments have so many reputations and if I can personally avoid them I will.

We've all got jobs to do and if I have to spend a week fixing a screwed install (and it'd have to be me or one of the other senior guys because the regular techs aren't equipped to do it), then a weeks worth of my work won't be getting done. Your job as an IT guys is to support users. That's about it. If you have other duties than that, take it with your manager to better define your position or allocate resources. You are an expense to the company. You do not usually produce anything. Your value is only in one thing and that is how well can you enable other employees to do their job. If they have to put up with yout attitude during that process, it just makes you less valueable.

Re:Where do you work?

[arkhan_jg]

Your job as an IT guys is to support users.

Yes, yes it is. userS, plural. Most senior IT guys are wearing some form of network or sysadmin hat, which means their work is important to 10's or hundreds of individual users. You're expecting a senior IT guy to drop everything, stop working on his other priorities that support many others users in order to pander to one prima donna who expects his machine to be given top priority despite the fact he broke it in the first place with unsupported software.

On top of that, you expect a senior guy to fawn over you and treat you like you're super-special - holding his own and pointing out that he has other important things to be doing that support many other users instead of major effort to recover a self-inflicted injury mean you accuse him of an attitude problem.

IT time is precious and limited, there's never enough to go round. Despite what you may think, you and your 'IT department avoiding' attitude are the problem here.

You try and pull such a hissy fit in my department, me and the director would tell you where to take a hike. IT are a whole company support department, not your personal carpet department. You know what you sound like?

"I pay my taxes, I pay your salary. How dare you give me a parking ticket, I'm your boss I am!"