IT Crises vs. Vacation: Sometimes It Isn't Pretty

CWmike writes "It's true that IT systems have become essential to business operations, but the successful functioning of the IT department shouldn't rest on any one person's shoulders. All told, vacations serve as mini tests to prove if a department can function when key players are away. That's the theory, anyway. In reality, IT departments sometimes flunk. The results can either be comical or turn out to be a serious wake-up call to organizations that need a better Plan B. To prime your mental pump before your own vacation, Computerworld compiled anecdotes about good vacations gone bad."

Comments

Re:Do you do what your boss tells you to do?

[Moryath]

However I have never lived in the US so I don't pretend to know what your experiences are.

And there's the basic problem.

Here in the USA, since the Retardicans took over in the early 2000's, every worker protection has basically been gutted. We're at 20% real unemployment, employees are uniformly scared for their jobs, and almost no company has anything but PHB's around.

It's the MBA's who are responsible for the complete lack of cross-training and the complete lack of understanding that (a) the workforce needs redundancy and (b) working people to death is bad in the long run.

Then again, your average MBA can't see more than a month ahead of time. Which again is part of the problem. The "long run" never enters into it. And these subhuman assholes are the ones who decide "Oh, Bob is taking 2 weeks off for vacation, to use up the accrued leave time so we don't steal it from him on "expiring"... Nothing broke while he was gone... guess we don't need Bob any more!"