Information and Technology (IT) services routinely has a bad name. We’re grumpy, grouchy, keep people from doing their jobs, inflexible … you get the idea.
Having been working as a sysadmin for all of a month (and working closely with our former sysadmin for many years, including sharing some duties), I think that many times there are base misunderstandings.
The main thing is this: we’re all on the same side. We all just want technology to work and work for us and not break and … you get the idea. IT doesn’t want to have to come down and fix things or to come and tell you how you should be using your technology.
Those are not the parts of the job I enjoy.
I DO enjoy talking with people about how technology might be able to better facilitate their work. I DO enjoy helping people if they have an issue with the technology they are using. I DO enjoy working on the “hard problems” of technology … like what the future might look like and how we might be able to better help people get there.
I DO like playing with technology, especially the new stuff, but even the older stuff I didn’t get to look at the first time. I DO like seeing people using technology to get their work done. That even includes those inventive ways they use the existing technology in ways we were not even expecting.
See, we are very much on the same side with this so let’s put down the battle standards, send the troops home, and get together to talk more about how technology might better serve everyone because that is where IT is positioned.
We are positioned in the middle of everyone and everything. Today, there is not much that IT does not touch in some way or one of our systems is not involved in … even if it is only for storing important files for that next presentation that needs to happen.
With that in mind, I do apologize. Sometimes I might seem to be dismissive because I know of another group with other needs where we can’t accommodate everyone so I need to make a decision … and sometimes it isn’t the best one for you. Ask me. Talk to me. Sit down and have a chat with me. I like talking about technology and the reason things are the way they are.
So, let’s get together so that we can get stuff done … together!