blogs.zdnet.com — Since the days of punch cards, IT has believed itself to be guardian of precious computing resources against attacks from non-technical barbarians known as ?users.? This arrogant attitude reflects inability to adapt to present-day realities. Such attitudes, combined with recent technological and social changes, are pushing IT to extinction
Mar 24, 2008 View in Crawl 4
syriusblackMar 24, 2008
sounds like someone is worried his high priced education with be worthless when the company hires that nerd that was programming at 12 years old.
martoqMar 24, 2008
FTA: Microsoft pushes IT, the purchasing department obliges, users become unhappy, and IT moves inexorably towards its own demise, in the form of long-term institutional suicide.Last time I checked, Microsoft isn't IT they're a vendor. You really kind of kill your entire argument with jackass statements like this. IT never has been a strategic partner. Its a support industry. IT is an enabler to allow businesses and agencies to do what they need to do. If your trying to sell yourself as more then that then your absolutely right you will be extinct.
bogatashMar 24, 2008
Sounds like that nerd that was programming at 12 years old would be a perfect fit for being a …. Programmer/Developer.
maskedm564Mar 24, 2008
I support users that can't copy a f**king file in Windows (even if the basic procedure to do so hasn't changed in over a decade). And they want to put more tools into the users hands?Right.
shftleftMar 24, 2008
This is a typical example of someone generalizing for the sake of a shock value title to their article. He does have some valid points, but nothing he says is new or even a surprise. Business has been outsourcing commoditized labor since the beginning of time, my organization is going through an adjustment of all aspects of back office business not just IT. The author makes a valid point when he talks about ADP not just selling payroll software but doing it for you.It's the nature of the business beast that if someone else can do it cheaper, why not go with them? I used to work with a Managed Security Services shop whose customers outsourced their security practice to an external provider. This was a great idea for shops who weren't in the business of securing networks but still needed a level of security that your average admin couldn't provide. Where it got hairy was when the security team at a company was completely outsourced to our shop leaving 1 or 2 stragglers behind to manage the whole enterprise (with us of course). Of course we could do it cheaper, but their management often underestimated and grossly miscalculated the value of in house talent, especially when the s**t hit the fan.The main problem with getting rid of IT Services in favor of an external source (or getting rid of them in favor of "smarter users') is that you lose that personal touch with the history and architecture of your IT systems. Senior management *is* disconnected with IT, that's *not* a reason to outsource your IT force, it's a reason for more IT people to become businesspeople, so the value of IT services is truly recognized throughout organizations. People like to focus on IT staff and services as a reactionary force: i.e. somethings down and we need to fix it, but what about the 99.999% (depending on your network ;P) of the time that these systems are up and running fine, the IT staff is continually working to improve services and keep things running smoothly so everyone else can do their jobs. The demand for highly skilled IT folks isn't going anywhere, because whether you outsource your IT services or keep them in shop, the requirement to implement, manage, and maintain those systems will always be there.The title of this article *should* have been "is IT being commoditized?", much less sexy but more on point. The answer is "yes". Will there come a day when people can use a computer just like they use a telephone or wall socket? Maybe, but I think it may be 50 years too soon to call IT on the road to extinction, I wouldn't even put it on the endangered list. =)-shft
leamancMar 25, 2008
In this day and age, IT *should* be becoming extinct, but there are still the "users" out there. They are only getting worse because they think they know a lot more these days because they've got their spiffy 2.3 GHz Celeron and 15" Dell LCD flat panel at home.
davidbatesMar 25, 2008
I polled some of the IT guys that work with me as well as others and we believe that this is a scare tactic for sure.It is meant to point out some of the flaws in the IT field from us as workers and managers at getting the point across that IT is necessary. Shape up or get subbed out should be the title.Read more @ davidbates.us