[PLUG-TALK] The IT Department Is Dead

John Sechrest sechrest at jas.peak.org
Sat Jan 12 18:48:15 UTC 2008



I find that IT falls into two catagories: System administration 
( Computer Facing support) and Customer Support (People facing support)

While it is clear that the opportunities for Computer Facing support
are deminising, it seems to me that there is still significant problems 
with organizations being unable to solve the people side of the equation.

We have Google For your Domain, And with this they provide services
for email and webservices.  They have a package for schools which will
provide email for all students at a school for free. And yet, many
schools and non-profits are unable to approach this because they are 
unable to make the staff habit and skill changes to make it possible.

So there is still a strong opportunity for People Facing IT activities.



Paul Heinlein <heinlein at madboa.com> writes:

 % A few days ago I read an article reviewing Nicholar Carr's Book, "The 
 % Big Switch," which argues that the traditional IT department will soon 
 % be a thing of the past:
 % 
 %    http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/010708-carr-it-dead.html
 % 
 % I actually think he'll be proven more right than wrong as time 
 % progresses -- assuming (as I do) that internetworking will only become 
 % more robust and stable over time.
 % 
 % Among the many things missing from the discussion (at least as it's 
 % presented in the review article) is the distinction between IT 
 % services dependent, for lack of better terms, on latency as opposed to 
 % bandwidth. That is, there are services provided by IT departments that 
 % require quick interaction and change (latency-dependent services) and 
 % those that require stability and power (bandwidth-dependent services).
 % 
 % It seems to me that companies looking to outsource IT functions would 
 % be well served by distinguishing the two. Bandwidth-dependent 
 % services, it seems to me, are the better candidates for outsourcing or 
 % commoditization. Once up and running, all these services need to do is 
 % run.
 % 
 % Carr's examples like CRM functionality, simple storage, raw computing 
 % clouds -- plus the widely known ones like outsourcing e-mail 
 % processing and web hosting -- can and have been successfully 
 % outsourced. (That they've also been done in a botched manner is just 
 % an argument for being careful, not for avoiding outsourcing 
 % altogether.)
 % 
 % Outsourced latency-dependent services, however, are more likely to 
 % cause frustration for employees because they need a lot of human 
 % interactions (some verbal, some visual, some physical) to happen in a 
 % short period of time for the service to be deemed successful.
 % 
 % Upgrading key software, for instance, is not a task I'd outsource. Too 
 % many things can go wrong -- and too many short follow-up checks need 
 % to happen -- to trust the operation to a high-latency relationship.
 % 
 % Access control or account management falls into the same category. 
 % Many of those sorts of changes need to happen immediately, with 
 % someone keenly following up to make sure the desired results were 
 % achieved. A low-latency, trusted relationship is key.
 % 
 % -- 
 % Paul Heinlein <> heinlein at madboa.com <> http://www.madboa.com/
 % _______________________________________________
 % PLUG-talk mailing list
 % PLUG-talk at lists.pdxlinux.org
 % http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-talk

-----
John Sechrest          .         Helping people use
                        .           computers and the Internet
                          .            more effectively
                             .                      
                                 .       Internet: sechrest at peak.org
                                      .   
                                              . http://www.peak.org/~sechrest



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