The other day, I wrote about things being more complicated than they need to be. I ran across this post on the A.P. Lawrence blog that talks about another aspect of this subject. How much does it cost people and companies when something because we have to deal with requests or support issues in a very prescribed and regimented way. My point is not to sell non-Windows solutions. I think Microsoft makes some great stuff as does Apple and the Linux community. The part of the anonymous post on Tony Lawrence's blog that is most interesting to me is that large for-profit companies don't routinely track lost work-time due to computer troubles. My recent loss of time was about 4 days until all was said and done. How much did that cost Penn State? Between my salary and projects that depend upon my activities, it was most likely a significant number of dollars. If we extend that to a small percentage of computer failures across the University, that number gets ever larger and more significant.
As IT, we have a responsibility to think about the consequences of our acceptable procedures and processes. The needs of our customers are changing. If they aren't already, the old-school authoritarian IT attitudes need to just go away. IT needs to learn that customers are what will allow us to flourish. Build relationships with people with whom you work, but who aren't in your department. Learn what those people need and want. Keeping people happy is a great way to get more productivity out of them. If we don't provide these services, or at least help select those services as part of the team, we will start to have less and less to do. I for one hate being bored (and unemployed)!
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