On Fri, 21 Mar 2008 07:46:05 -0600, Howard Brazee <howard@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
>On Thu, 20 Mar 2008 18:25:23 -0600, Robert <no@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>>This illustrates why software technology in some mainframe shops has not
changed in 20
>>years. It's not because workers are lazy or uninformed, nor because
opportunities are
>>absent. It's because management blocks change. They do it to retain
hegemony over users.
>
>I suspect some do it for that reason.
>
>But others do it because their job isn't to make sure technology is
>current. Their job is to provide support for the business without
>costing too much.
Generally, newer technologies cost less.
>The CEO sees IS as a huge expense. He grudgingly allows increases in
>non-revenue producing technology to provide security and to meet
>government needs. But what he really cares about is stuff that gives
>an obvious benefit to his bottom line.
You want to be in a department the CEO regards as a revenue producer, not
in one he
regards as an expense. There is a huge disconnect between funds allocation
and technical
need.
For example, in vertically integrated oil companies, exploration gets all
the money they
want. Ih the pharmaceutical industry, research and discount calculation
get lots of money,
because the CEO thinks they are revenue producers. At the other end of the
scale, customer
service is almost universally perceived to be a money sink.
As a rule of thumb, ask whether management would consider offshoring your
job to India. If
the answer is yes, the CEO thinks you're an expense; if the answer is no,
you're an asset.
>That might be "giving salesmen an accurate inventory while in a
>customer's office". But it's not "having the most current
>compiler".
The CEO is an expert at making high-quality widgets or marketing widgets.
He or she
doesn't know how to manage a computer department. Outsourcing works
because it brings in
IT professionals who allocate funds more rationally than a widget expert.
>And the CIO needs to make the CEO happy.
What REALLY makes the CEO happy is a 20-40% reduction in cost. Outsourcers
can deliver
that, an ass kissing CIO cannot.
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