Here we go again usually when you have someone talking like this leads to ask. What really is in your mind? Teach tech skills? Show me the company that has a full budget to train IT personnel and then let them go to class. Sorry Mr. McLaine but I don't buy your argument here and one other thing being a former EDS employee I know how you think and that is costs of personnel not quality of personnel. Me when I hire people it is mandatory to have some sort of certification not because I will pay more but it denotes you are able to grasp the technology at some level.
What you are indicating here is a generalist so you can pay he/she the lowes possible salary and then give them a miserable 2% raise every 12 months. Please do not insult my intelligence and speak what you mean. For you a generalist is all you need and when it comes to crunch time hire the specialist at $200/Hr to fix the problem and then go away. Well that is the model I follow and the reason I will never work for corporate entities again. I am perfectly happy in charging 200/Hr for a 6 month engagement and walk away for a vacation. After all is market economy that rules.
Generalist
I forgot that if your data center still a cost center then you are doing something wrong. I with the blessing of management turned my data center into a profit center by charging for services to each company division. This in turn allowed me to hire new people provide services such as data warehouse, analysis, and reporting. Added new services such as security and web development.
As such our data center turns a profit we refresh every 18 months and provide unparalleled service to our customers. And yes I have a highly specialized group of people in software, networks, security, and development. Combined that with good salaries excellent work life balance and you creat an incredible loyal team and able to deliver anything.
I believe sound leadership combined with sound expectations makes up far more than just hiring a generalist. This looks more to me like the gulag of old a few powerful directing the ignorant mass of workers.
IT Generalist?
Anon,
You're the kind of person IT professionals like myself gravitate toward. You not only manage people, apparently, you are a Leader! Kudos for your creativity and not caving into today's horrible cost control measures that dominate so many large IT organizations. I was a former EDS & Merrill Lynch employee & have witnessed firsthand what "generalization" really means (seems most of us on here have a grasp of it's reality). It's the client that suffers from unskilled IT labor in the long run.
Generalist
Mr. Clark there you go pay cheap and then that is the outcome you get. Students need some work I agree and you are providing some type of learning experience which is usually menial and expect to get paid poorly. In doing so you are helping create the next generation of low wage seeking IT worker which will put us up to par with India so IT departments can hire them at the same expected low wage entry points from H1 workers.
And 30 years Mr. McLaine with EDS data centers is a lot and very counterproductive as I worked in some of those and you have 30 year old technology in most of them EDS is not an innovator they are a status quo company that relish using old systems until they give up.
I remember a system beyond end of life and EDS paying to fixt when half of the bill would have provide a new and improved system. This is why I am leaving the field afte 20 years of fighting the accountants and cost monsters of corporation had enough. Retiring to the caribbean and to the good life. Good luck all of you future work camp IT generalists.
Clark is a jack ass
Clark said. "Being a university, I have the advantage to leverage students to do crummy work such as inventory server racks and pay little money."
I'm sure he shows the same respect to the rest of his employees.
Obviously Missunderstood
I apologize for any missunderstanding regarding my comment that was clearly taken out of context. Our students are very valuable to our organization and we often give a multitude of tasks to student staff to provide real-world experience. In many cases our students will become a full-time staff member because of the training they received on the job. Sometimes the real world involves "crummy" work, and as a business you should utilize the best resources to do the work.
That being said, there has been many times that I have spent long hours doing boring, but very important work, because it needed to be done... So it is not below any of us.
Still in my mind, in the Data Center space, IMO it is far more important to hire staff that may be more general in technical skill sets, but more importantly rather strong in motivation, energy, and desire to learn. The Data Center is an excellent position to learn about different technologies, standardization, and how it all works together. I have had success stories of hiring strong, motivated, employees that may not have the certifications, but have provided training (both classroom and hands on) and promoted them to where they provide very specialized value to the organization.
Regards,
Paul Clark
Agree that specialization is dead
Companies like Perot and EDS hire entry level peeps that do an incredible job. There is no longer a need to specialize or leverage existing experience.
Specialization is not dead.
Perot and EDS are both flagrant HB1 visa abusers that are widely known for the flag pole approach. Throw the newbie at projects and hope that before they are bounced out the door, the “entry level peep” in question absorbs enough knowledge that eventually they hold a position.
I had a pair of remote site individuals, who were somehow signed on a non-revocable contract and the second week I was teaching "vi" virtually to these seasoned 5 and 6 year veterans over the phone.
I have witnessed contract project workers teaching themselves to write SQL statements for Oracle out of a Oracle manual.
I have over 18 years of IT experience, that ranges from Mid-Range Unix System Administration, to Frame Relay and Yellow Pages network administration along with Ult+ (a for of PICK/D3) and U2 (IBM Informix - American Expresses Banking Database) System Administration. So I am the sort of generalist that you are referring to.
Aron and Clark you both are dead wrong. Cloud Computing is far more complicated than either of you no-techies realize. If anything core centralization is getting worse. At the core is the inability to get the proper vendor specific training that is needed due to the extravagant cost.
In addition the utter failure of the universities to teach conception thinking and the delusional failure of the MBA system has lead to the financial disaster that we now find our selves in.
I take a look at Dilbert over the last couple of weeks and I see both of you looking back out at me.
H-1b and L-1
The current law allows the abuse of the H-1b, L-1 and other similar alphabet soup visa programs. In 2008, over 900,000 foreign workers were allow entry into our country, PLUS 300,000 -- 400,000 foreigners were given green cards. In 2009, "our" government is allowing 75,000 foreign workers each month into OUR country. My U.S. citizenship means nothing in giving me an advantage working in my own country.
support Senate bills S. 887 and S. 2804
They're Kidding Right
I have been a general practitioner and my career has been all but dead. Everyone wants specific narrow skill sets. I work with Windows.Linux/Unix administration, Networking, C/C#/C++/Perl programming and a slew of other technologies that I have been asked to learn ASAP. No one could care less. Sounds like the writer is trying to advance a theory that is not held up by perusing Monster.com or Dice.com.
Mr Clark is a jack ass indeed
You get what you pay for - If you go cheap then expect low end work. Anal intensive tightwads and stupid want to be IT Specialist instructors are what ruin the IT business. If you want the students to learn something then see how India does it. Let the students go over seas for their training - they work for peanuts over there then I guess the training provided by Mr. Tightwad will be a comparable equivalent. Maybe the university would do well to lower Clark's pay. After all both would get what they want. What a moron you are Mr. Clark!
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