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Industry observers use the term “consumerization” to describe the phenomenon whereby office workers are less likely to wait for the IT folks to equip them.
Analyst Rebecca Wettemann of software research firm Nucleus Research says her company’s surveys of corporate technology users frequently turn up the question: “Why can’t I do what I want without getting an OK from IT?”
“Individual people, not IT organizations, are driving the next wave of (technology) adoption,” Forrester Research said in a recent report.
Forrester refers to the movement toward user control and individual empowerment as “Technology Populism,” others refer to it as “Office 2.0.” Less sympathetically, consulting firm Yankee Group, in a 2007 report entitled “Zen and the Art of Rogue Employee Management,” sees it as a threat for IT managers…
“IT managers have served as corporate gatekeepers. With software on demand, average people are able to explore and access and do much more than they have in the past,” Wettemann says. “That power is going away,” she said of central control…
“Established software companies like Microsoft have less ability to promise a product in the future and have customers wait for it,” Wettemann says. “When something I can find on the Web does 70 percent of what I want, today, why should I wait?”
Of course, questions of security, interoperability, quality results might trump populist creativity.
A good policy is; Add s/w or H/W without authorization and lose your computer.
Not my problem if you then can’t get your work done. If your boss fires you as a result, TFB.
#1, your attitude is the reason why some people resent/hate/despise I.T.
From what I’ve seen in some IT departments, you really ARE getting Ernie the drummer to take out your appendix. I’ve worked with some folks who are really talented and professional, who really want to help their customers, and I’ve seen others who take a more “us vs. them” approach to their customers. What’s striking is rather than the IT department using course-correction to figure out _why_ some folks are turning away from the IT department (and using the dreaded “Shadow IT”) the IT department issues draconian measures to punish the users for disobeying the IT department. Unless IT looks carefully at what the customers are doing to subvert IT, and see how it can best work together for the business, IT will always be marginalized by the customers, and will eventually be scuttled by budget reductions, rogue projects, and outright apathy.
Boy, I’d hate to be that dude’s patient. How clean is that environment with that dude’s beard sticking out all over the place?
I encounter this problem all day long (yea, I’m one of those evil IT guys). Staff members who “think” they know all about computer making changes (adding & removing software mostly) causing nothing but problems and blaming it on us.
You have know idea how many times I been called on the carpet by the head-honchos because of complaints, only to be apologised to when I tell them the details of the problem.
IT folks may seem like monsters at times (and some are indeed control freaks), but when you’re responsible for over 3,000 system, with custom software configurations, you have to maintain standards.
I have some clown right now, trying to convince our staff that we should upgrade all the computers to Vista, saying IT doesn’t know what it’s doing. The fact that our proprietary software isn’t Vista compatable yet (long story), well you get the point.
#2
The flip side is when some happy secretary decides “she knows best” and downloads a virus that hammers the network or when Musical Bob decides he’s entitled to stream HD Internet radio while downloading 20GB files. There there is the “I think I’m a power user” guy who reads about a registry hack and bricks his machine costing hours of support time to rebuild it. All of that of course ignores a nefarious (or just stupid) user who downloads a bunch of confidential company information onto a USB stick and accidentally-on-purpose loses it. In all of these cases, it is the IT staff that gets the shaft for letting it happen.
In terms of online apps, IT managers still have the ultimate key which is the network, not that there aren’t ways around that ;->
What I generally found is that IT guys forget they are overhead and that the people that acctually do the work that the company does are profit.
Yes, IT guys are overhead, just like chairs, lights, the building etc. Fact is, if you take out the IT guys, most larger businesses fail. I’m not an IT guy but worked with them on customer service and found that they usually are way overworked and then blamed for absolutely everything.
On another note, the article postulates that Microsoft wants to take over Yahoo because they want the 500 million users to sell services to.
The article also states “The merger with Yahoo would provide Microsoft ‘creative people and interesting online properties'”
So Microsoft doesn’t have creative people? They can’t just hire away who they want? What’s the offer at, 44 Billion? They could steal from Yahoo a lot of “Creative People” for a lot less.
And also works out to at least $88 per Yahoo user. That’s a lotta cash for people who want something for free!
#7
When IT folks only act or are pigeon-holed into the singular role of support, they are akin to Police and Fire services. Communities, especially small communities, can survive without Police and Fire services. However, when IT folks act more in the role of managing information and improvement in efficiency, they are far more valuable. As always, it greatly depends on the industry. That said, in the US, SOX compliance makes them pretty much a requirement.
First problem I had with the arrogant asses in IT involved them thinking they knew what I needed to do my job, installing and removing software without saying anything, giving false promises to install needed software, replacing programs without warning, and generally screwing with the computers without any consideration for the useres. Not just me.
There for a while, we had no way to know what we would find on the computers from day to day, or if they would even be functional.
Then a tightwad, control freak Martinet took over and things got worse, with us users being blamed for the previous IT screwups. We were to not crack the computer case, even to blow the dust out (and the tech only came through every three years, and generally forgot to blow the dust). I changed to one of the installed wallpapers from MS, and had it changed to a “company standard”. I could go on all day about all the mickey mouse bull we had to put up with.
The present IT is a good deal saner and more reasonable to deal with, but they remain underfunded.
i love how IT guys have a bad day with 20% of their users, and therefore act like total pricks with the other 80%.
“Have you tried turning it off and on again?”
I’ve been doing tech support for many years, and I must say that in no way would I ever trust the judgment of my users. People think that they “know better,” but my experience has taught me 110% otherwise. If you have cancer, you don’t try to fix it yourself. You go to the doctor. If your computer has crashed, you don’t ask your neighbor to fix it. You ask your company’s IT guy.
Now, I’ll be honest and say that frankly, there are a lot of guys in IT who frankly should never deal with a customer face-to-face. There are plenty of them who are rude, condescending, and lack any kind of social grace. When I deal with a customer, I do my best to work WITH them. However, I work with them within the standards that our IT department has set. I do my best to treat them professionally and with courtesy, even if I know that they lack any kind of computer knowledge. I never talk down to them, and I never disrespect them. If your company has an IT department that doesn’t respect you, let someone know, because there are plenty of qualified individuals who will give you good service.
However, if you’re working for a company, you’re working for a business. The bottom line of the business is to make money and keep you employed. Businesses need computers and networks to work, or money goes down the drain, and there are companies that can quantitatively tell you how much one lost hour can cost your company. The responsibility, thus, falls on IT to prevent lost time, and they have to make tough decisions. Often, this means that yes, they will have to “lock down” your laptop. While this may seem like an inconvenience to you, it’s the only way to protect the company.
And while you may say, “but *I* would never cause harm to my computer,” think of all the others who may make similar statements. It may be true that you DO know better, but there are plenty of other village idiots who would say the same thing, yet install 400 instances of spyware onto their laptop.
I once had a user who had root access to one of the servers at work (no longer the case, thank god). Before I arrived, she told me that she was trying to fix the problem herself, so she just started clicking on things. She admitted to me that she had no idea what she was clicking on.
Just to remind people how we got here.
In 1960, Digital Equipment Corporation aka DEC introduced the PDP-1, which was not called a “computer”, but rather a “Programmable Data Processor” which was sold as “lab equipment” because engineers could by “lab equipment” but computers hade to be purchase through IT (which wasn’t then called IT). The PDP-1, the machine the first computer game was written on and for) and its relatives the PDP-11 (key in Unix development), the PDP-10, DEC System 20, and VAX where the backbone of the ARPAnet andthe the early Internet.
About the time the PDP-1 turned 21, IBM and Microsoft launched the IBM PC, which was so successful because since it didn’t have to be in the computer room but could be out in the office area, could be bought as office equipment just like the Word Processors (which like the PDP-1 were carefully NOT called computers) from Wang, DEC and others. Again, the IT department didn’t control them or their purchase decision.
The history of computers in business has been driven for the last 5 decades by the efforts of regular employees to get out from under the thumb of IT and embracing new technology that allowed them the freedom to get their job done, followed by IT swallowing up the control of that technology only to have the users escape to something new.
Brons
“# 4 apeguero said,
on March 8th, 2008 at 9:46 am
Boy, I’d hate to be that dude’s patient. How clean is that environment with that dude’s beard sticking out all over the place?”
Welcome to MRSAtown!
#1, patrick,
Not my problem if you then can’t get your work done. If your boss fires you as a result, TFB.
If you are the one who removed the computer then yes, you are the one responsible for the work not being done. Yes, people shouldn’t d/l malicious ware but how many come prepackaged in emails from customers / suppliers / contacts who picked them up from who knows where. NO, not every piece of malware is stopped by AVG free version.
But your attitude of blame the employee was why you couldn’t run a business in France. This just verifies that you can’t manage people.
#6, Thomas,
I agree and you are correct. However, what you are doing is using human nature to blame the world’s troubles on IT’s restrictions. Music Bob should be restrained and better be important enough to the company to excuse that type of behavior.
I assume you are old enough to remember the number of jokes that were photocopied before PCs became mainstream on desktops.
#9, Thomas,
#7
When IT folks only act or are pigeon-holed into the singular role of support, they are akin to Police and Fire services. Communities, especially small communities, can survive without Police and Fire services.
I disagree. The only time we NEED firefighters is when there is a fire, police is when there is a crime, and IT when our computers act up. The rest of the time they are redundant for our purposes. But if there is a fire, you don’t want to put an ad in the paper for resumes. If your computer goes down this morning, you don’t want it back next week. Maybe
Ah Yea in #8 responds well to that in his first paragraph of #8. Also, your #6 comment about Music Bob reminds me of the analogy of the pyromaniac to the Fire Department.
BUT, I think we agree that IT does have more than the firefighter mentality to offer.
#10, Philleep,
First problem I had with the arrogant asses in IT involved them thinking they knew what I needed to do my job, installing and removing software without saying anything, giving false promises to install needed software, replacing programs without warning, and generally screwing with the computers without any consideration for the useres.
The first problem was when your IT department had to deal with an armpit who thought he knew better than they. Not every piece of s/w is compatible with a computer and network. Try reading the first paragraphs of #5 and #6.
It isn’t that they know what you need to do your job. They know what is available and what may be used. As well, they are gate keepers and the person responsible if you use pirated s/w. Not to mention the amount of malware and resource conflicts that often comes included in that free version of s/w.
#9–Thomas==my experience with IT has always been terrific. The point of service problem guys fixed every problem, every time. I would show they what was wrong with my terminal and they would fix it while I went out for a cup of coffee.
The VP of Info Services was also a 100% type guy. He could never provide a needed report from the data base because the “Type Nine Data Sorter” could not be altered from the software provider. So—we all knew the limits of our IT.
As to your example, yes, its very true. Valuable information is always a good thing regardless of its source. Thats why when I have a fire, at work or at home, I always ask the first guy who arrives to review my strategic goals.
“First problem I had with the arrogant asses in IT involved them thinking they knew what I needed to do my job, installing and removing software without saying anything, giving false promises to install needed software, replacing programs without warning, and generally screwing with the computers without any consideration for the useres. Not just me.
There for a while, we had no way to know what we would find on the computers from day to day, or if they would even be functional.”
—-
“I’ve been doing tech support for many years, and I must say that in no way would I ever trust the judgment of my users. People think that they “know better,” but my experience has taught me 110% otherwise. If you have cancer, you don’t try to fix it yourself. You go to the doctor. If your computer has crashed, you don’t ask your neighbor to fix it. You ask your company’s IT guy.”
[…]
“I once had a user who had root access to one of the servers at work (no longer the case, thank god). Before I arrived, she told me that she was trying to fix the problem herself, so she just started clicking on things. She admitted to me that she had no idea what she was clicking on.”
Speaking of Doctors. Maybe some training in bedside manner? and can’t these office workers go out and pick a book sometimes?
Love the extremes though ^_^
#17
You are describing the other extreme which I have encountered far too frequently: the Network Nazi. The guy (they have all been men in my experience) that has no concept of risk assessment and thus thinks that every bit of data is on par with national security. The worst NN are the ones that know just enough to shutdown something useful, but not enough to understand the technology they impaired. I remember one guy who refused to install WINS because he read it was a security risk. Ah, the stories I could tell would fill pages. I can laugh at them now, but at the time it was incredibly annoying.
22 – Net Nazi, huh? Good one! I will have to share that one with my co-workers.
#7 GigG,
You’re profit? Think again. To your bosses, you’re just overhead too. The difference is while you put in a 8-hour day, I have to work 10-hour days, plus weekends to clean-up your messes, run backups, install service patches, etc. So that it doesn’t interfer with you getting your job done.
It’s IT people like me that save your company money, keeping you working and not sitting around the break room bitching about IT sucking up the company’s profits.
#10 Philleep,
In principal I would agree with you, you must have never worked with a good IT department.
I spend a lot of time going to meetings with management and with our staff trying to keep ahead of the staff’s needs, so we’re no always playing catch-up. It’s a tough job, but when IT works with staff and staff works with us, things can be quite rewarding.
@#24 becagle
I think the difficulties #7 encountered is rather a result of bad management rather than any technical issue.
Deploying technology for technology’s sake alone with no evaluation of its impact(positive and negative) on the business is simply bad business practice. The maxim that “there are management workarounds for technical problems, but there are no technical workarounds for management problems” springs to mind.
#2 – And your response highlights why sometimes whole networks are fried.
Becagle, exactly. I could not work with the first problem IT because the jackass I had to deal with was a reflexive liar. He came in to check the computer, I could do nothing while he was on it, so I asked him if he was going to change anything. He said “no”. I came back the next day and he had replace QPro4 for DOS with QPro5, without changing the memory allocation. Remember what happens?
Well, long rant, and it took me 2 weeks of zero productivity to recover (he also destroyed my back up files). He did other things, too. Like I said, “no one knew what to expect from day to day.” And he would lie. Management believed him.
The tightwad, as I mentioned, was convinced that the users were to blame for all the problems the first IT caused, no working with him.
The present IT crew are ok, just under funded, IMO.
Allowing office employees to administer their own IT infrastructure is tantamount to a dentist giving his customers the “Dentist in a box” package, and expecting them to perform their own root canals. It really is that silly.
How on earth anybody would expect a marketing director to implement PCI data standards across the organization? It’s the same thing as asking the database administrator to provide a cost benefit analysis to better understand the current options of vertical integration in the minerals and mining subsidiaries.
The real problem here is the same problem that cars went through once they were ubiquitous – everybody was a qualified mechanic all of a sudden.
The moral of the story is that nobody knows everything. We should all try to have at least a modicum of respect for the coworkers who’s jobs we know nothing about. All jobs require some kind of special knowledge and there is most often something more to it than “yeah, I know computers”.
Mr. Lee