Over the years I’ve known lots of people who handle IT and networking for government agencies and other public sector employers. Working for the state, the county, the city or town, the water district, school district or special taxing authority is always less lucrative than doing the same job for private industry. The shorter work week and greater number of holidays many government workers enjoy seem never to visit those in IT, who struggle with outdated equipment and tiny or nonexistent budgets to get the job done.
Still, to my mind the worst part of the government IT job, especially for those in charge of IT, is the number of bosses you have to answer to – and the hoops they make you jump through.
Private industry usually has a well-defined hierarchy. For example, the IT manager/director might report to the CIO (or CFO), who reports to the CEO. Clear-cut, straight lines that are easily navigated. In a city government, though, the IT manager might report to the city manager, who reports to the mayor and council. But there are other “dotted line” (and “hidden line”) connections to lawyers in various departments, facilities managers, mayoral “advisers” (aka, gatekeepers), citizen review boards and the vocal leaders of the various constituency groups, fundraisers and money donors who support these elected and appointed officials. And each of them needs to demonstrate their power and their place in the pecking order.
To add to the job frustration, many of these power-hungry people are also micro-managers who insist on codifying in law, regulation and policy not only the aims and goals of technology, but also the means to get there. Like many of you, I was taught that in IT you first determine your needs, and then you discover those applications and services that best meet those needs. Only then do you consider the hardware and software platform that can best deliver that application or service. So it’s frustrating to see government bodies (legislative, regulatory and advisory) mandating that particular operating systems be used or requiring huge, money-wasting studies to justify whatever technology choice the expert (the IT manager) judges to be the best choice.
Election day is coming. Find out what the candidates think about IT. Vote for those who’ll let the IT managers do their job.
Tip of the week
When government IT workers do succeed in actually planning for a rational, up-to-date coordinate plan for infrastructure applications and services, it’s more than likely that some well-connected loser in the bidding process try to exert political pressure to undo the situation. That’s happening right now in San Jose.
