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Why "Running IT As a Business" Is a Bad Idea
snydeq sends along a provocative piece from Infoworld, arguing that the conventional wisdom on how IT should be run is all wrong. "Bob Lewis dispels the familiar litany that 'IT should be run as a business,' instead offering insights into what he is calling a 'guerilla movement' to reject conventional 'IT wisdom' and industry punditry in favor of what experience tells you will work in real organizations. 'When IT is a business, selling to its "internal customers," its principal product is software that "meets requirements." This all but ensures a less-than-optimal solution, lack of business ownership, and poor acceptance of the results,' Lewis writes. 'The alternatives begin with a radically different model of the relationship between IT and the rest of the business — that IT must be integrated into the heart of the enterprise, and everyone in IT must collaborate as a peer with those in the business who need what they do.' To do otherwise is a sure sign of numbered days for IT, according to Lewis. After all, the standard 'run IT as a business' model had its origins in the IT outsourcing industry, 'which has a vested interest in encouraging internal IT to eliminate everything that makes it more attractive than outside service providers.'"
Lots of IT people are Christian. That alone says that rational results are beyond the point. Stupidity and randomness can reign.
YOU are spot on, my friend-- this article is clearly written by the same curmudgeonly stereotype of an IT manager that we have all experienced at some point in our professional lives.
Coming from someone that works on the sales side, IT customer service has only gotten progressively worse. IT managers are aware of the power they wield and they clutch to it like a 2 year old clutches the last shovel in the sandbox.
What I would like is a revolution in IT, whereas the needs of the end users are kept front of mind as well as security and efficiency concerns. If someone asks me to look up something for them, or do a quick project that takes less than ten minutes, I will usually stop what I'm doing or get it done relatively quickly for them if it will help them to finish something they need in a snap. Dealing with IT departments, it's ticketing systems and red tape just to get someone on the other end.
Typical self absorbed IT drivel from social misfits. Here is news for all you nerds.. you are there to support a business. YOU and EVERYTHING you do should be as transparent as possible.. your entire existence serves only to make sure that whatever product the company uses is supported as efficiently and quickly as possible.. I.T. is NOT a self serving entity.. and does not exist for the benefit of itself. Us IT people do not know anythng about making pizzas, or electricity or microwave ovens. What we do is provide the tools for our parent companies based upon THEIR needs to produce that product that gets your paycheck signed. Yes we consult.. yes we recommend.. but to imply that YOU should become a core part of the business model... self indulgent crap from people who have no clue. I know that most of you hate that no one outside the computer worlds listens or pays attention to you, thats the price you pay for being nerds. You get a paycheck for being technical gurus NOT product engineers.. and to imply that being in IT somehow entitles you to that is asinine. UGH what a stupid article. People with this mentality are the WORST IT support people.
Hey, douchebag!
Yes, you. The douche. "aquatone82". Yup, you. C'mere.
Let me explain something to you. While you are obviously laboring under the mistaken impression that you are God's gift to the bit, and that the reason everybody else exists in the company is to wipe and kiss your ass when it needs wiping and kissing, um, that kind of isn't true. In fact, it's false. Totally false. Utter bullshit. Und so weiter.
See, the thing is this - you are a fucking code monkey. Yup, that's right. There is no such thing as a "developer" that is *not* a code monkey. (It's like "jumbo shrimp" - there is no such thing as a shrimp that is actually jumbo.) You are a code monkey because you "pursue your art" - i.e. commit your hatchet-job travesties of computer science - inside a tunnel constructed by others. Who constructs that tunnel? Yup, you got it - IT. (In the sense you are laming about it, that translates as "sysadmin/netadmin".)
Now, you are presumably also laboring under the misapprehension that you have some understanding of the requirements of this task. Well, you don't. Mapping out dependency chains, identifying "big-picture" showstoppers, integration, sanity checking, all that good shit - these all fall under the general description of "providing code monkeys the adult supervision they need to avoid fucking the entire system to death with their imbecilic flailings". Now, you don't like adult supervision - the same way kids don't like eating broccoli, and envision worlds made out of ice-cream and Coca-Cola where every meal is dessert - but you don't get to operate without it, because (I reiterate) you don't have the slightest clue what you're doing outside your protected little bubble. Kids, mental defectives, and developers need their hands held, or they'll hurt themselves or someone else. This is a fact, deal with it.
Now, how do I know this? I know this because anybody who *did* know what they were doing - i.e. had done their time as a sysadmin/netadmin before, professionally, for money - would never have let a comment as stupid as yours pass their lips. Believe me, the sysadmin knows more about what you're doing than you think - it is only in your mind that you are so clever that no mere "computer janitor", as you so snottily refer to them, can possibly understand the ineffable mysteries of your artistry.
I'd recommend you spend some time laboring in the sulfur mines, son - a little adult responsibility might knock a little of that bad attitude out of that vacuum-flask you call a head. Until then, I'd recommend that you avoid pissing off the IT department. BOFHs do not take kindly to attitude of your type, and have been known to correct it with a 2x4.
Have a nice day (asshole).
"scary devil monastery forever"
-BOFH