It isn’t I.T.

Everyone seems to think that Information Technology (I.T.) departments want control of everything. Let me set the record straight, WE DON’T. The funny thing is that I.T. would be a lot happier in some ways, and in many cases, without so much control, believe me. Control is what the organizational leaders want. The control is being dictated to I.T. by the business leaders who are afraid of trade secrets getting out or law suits resulting from private information being leaked.

If I didn’t have to worry about securing your desktop and the data it accesses, I wouldn’t. I’d just provide a reliable network infrastructure for your data to travel on and leave you to worry about virus protection, application installations and hardware choices. What software you use is of no concern to me in that type of world – a world where I’m not responsible for making it all work together and be secure.

That introduces the other aspect of the I.T. world that is not our fault, but a function of the requirements placed upon us, security. People want things secure, but they don’t want to be responsible for securing it. We provide a solution that works, but that is too inconvenient for you. Guess what, security by definition is going to be inconvenient compared to an insecure option. You still put locks on your doors at home even though the extra step of unlocking it is required, don’t you? You don't care if your stuff is secure? Well guess what, your boss does. His boss told both our bosses how important security is and neither of us has a say (if we want to keep receiving a paycheck).

While I’m on the subject, let me tell you non-technical people something. What we do is not “easy.” We aren’t doing brain surgery, but at least a brain surgeon isn’t asked to change tools and patients in mid-operation like nothing ever happened and without prior notice, nor additional staff to help. Try driving a worn out sports car down a windy road as fast as you can while the road is being worked on; the people in the back seat are arguing over which music, what temperature and who has more space; the front passenger is directing you to a location they don’t know and have never been to before; and you're trying to keep an eye on that cup of hot coffee in the center console without a top on it. Now, on top of that, imagine that everyone in the car blames you for their uncomfortable situation, for not already being at the destination and for not having the latest, greatest car to ride in. Did I mention not one of them has a license to drive and that everyone is required to be there? That’s about how it is sometimes.

Instead of bad-mouthing I.T. staff for one hour of hassle to resolve your issue, thank them for 39+ hours of productive work without their involvement. Instead of complaining about your inability to do things the way you want, praise the fact that you can get your job done in a timely fashion. Instead of blaming I.T. for the failure of your computer, praise them for fixing it (or for bringing you a new one). Instead of griping about new technology, be glad you are kept up-to-date with the latest industry standards. It really isn’t that hard if you try (your results may vary).