* IT professionals share their thoughts on how the current economic condition affects them
Economic struggle isn’t new to the IT industry, but some working in a high-tech profession view the current financial circumstances as an opportunity, while others wonder how much they can really stretch a dollar.
In response to recent Network World coverage and a previous edition of the Network/Systems Management Alert, IT professionals have shared their thoughts on how the current economic condition affects them.
One newsletter reader e-mailed about struggling to do more with less for many years.
“I don’t know how we can do more with less. Since 2000 we have downsized twice, not including the reductions when we both outsourced and offshored many of our IT positions. We also have a continuous silent [reduction in force] in all parts of our company, coupled with a policy of no replacements for employees that voluntarily leave. At this point, the only jobs for staff IT people are in the data centers, a tiny number of people that provide desktop services for people moving between locations and to collect company assets when headcount gets reduced. We staff a few strategic projects handed down from senior management — I don’t see much IT strategy coming from middle or front-line manager input. There has been no published budget in IT for 8 years now. I can’t imagine how the belt could be further tightened, without further cutting back on the services provided.”
Another reader agreed, saying IT departments that depend on too few staff will ultimately experience degradation in performance and a cutback in services delivery.
“Relying on too few IT personnel will almost certainly result in performance, reliability and security degradation. It is a fairly common practice for company management in general, and IT management in particular, to overlook the critical nature of the underlying network infrastructure with respect to overall system performance, reliability and security.
“The prevailing misconception is that the system admin folks can easily wear the collateral hat and support the network infrastructure. Nothing could be further from the truth, especially in a predominantly Microsoft environment. Most Microsoft certified engineers don’t even have a complete understanding of DNS infrastructures, configuration and operations. If you are lucky enough to have some Unix folks on your staff they can probably “get by” in a small network operation. However, today’s enterprise and campus networks are so complex with converged environments and time critical (performance) real time applications that network infrastructure specialists are a mission-critical asset. Network infrastructure expertise should be the very last place to cut back or freeze. … Management is the place to cut or freeze, not the mission-critical operational IT staff.”
According to comments posted in Network World’s online community, others see the economic downturn as an opportunity to highlight IT’s true value to the business as a provider of services, rather than simply an implementer of technology. One commenter says the economic crisis shouldn’t have a huge impact on IT shops that already have their house in order, so to speak.
“An economic downturn shouldn’t impact IT practice, except for perhaps postponing major expenditures. If stakeholders and IT knew how their IT investments actually contributed to the bottom line, there would be no impact whatsoever. However, because industry practice focuses mostly on ‘technology’ — not on how it’s used and contributes to the bottom line — we have rhetorical discussions about crunching budgets and reallocation of resources.
“Really, why is this an issue? If IT was aligned with the business objectives, the slightest change in plans would be taken in stride. Everything would be prioritized and management would know where to focus resources. Instead, the market is driven by techno-hyperbole, buying check-box technology anointed by Gartner or IDC.
“Indeed, ignorance is bliss in IT departments and executive suites throughout the world. Shouldn’t management already know where they need to focus without a budget crisis? Doesn’t good planning and best practice demand provisions? Yes and yes! Personally, if a budget crunching prompts more IT insight and executive involvement, I’m all for it.”
