What is the job of IT.

Mitch Wagner of InformationWeek writes, in a long discussion about Apple supporting the Enterprise: Gruber’s post has the inherent assumption that it’s IT’s job to serve the company’s users. It’s not, though, it’s the job to serve the organization, and its goals. This often means that users get inferior technology because that’s really all they … Continue reading “What is the job of IT.”

Mitch Wagner of InformationWeek writes, in a long discussion about Apple supporting the Enterprise:

Gruber’s post has the inherent assumption that it’s IT’s job to serve the company’s users. It’s not, though, it’s the job to serve the organization, and its goals. This often means that users get inferior technology because that’s really all they need to do their jobs.

This makes the assumption that serving the organisation and serving the company’s users are different goals with different outcomes.

Happy users are more productive. This isn’t about making sure that every user has their ‘Tunes or a copy of Pirates of the Carribean on their phone but more about making sure the technology is accessible and usable.

The IT manager’s job isn’t to deploy software that end-users find sexy, or that makes them happy. The IT department’s job is to deploy tools that make people, and the organization, more productive.

This isn’t what IT departments do, however.

They deploy tools which make their own jobs easier, users and organisation be damned. That’s why you end up with Windows PCs locked down so tight that the end user can’t change the clock thats 14 minutes slow. They can’t install ZIP software to open a zip of holiday photos they’ve been sent (it’s finally built into Vista).

The most interesting speech from an IT manager I heard was:

We’re rolling out Vista at the end of the year and nothing will make this deadline slip, not the business nor the end users. This deadline is like Y2K.

Great attitude…

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