Bad Behavior After the Bubble

As stated earlier, up to the point the Internet bubble burst IT people were in my opinion some of the most talented individuals in business.  They truly cared about their customers both inside their respective companies and outside the fold.   

Then the layoffs began.  First it was the contractors, some would say they were the engine for the growth of the Internet economy.  Everyone wanted to be a consultant in those days.  I turned down a technology strategy consultant gig that supposedly paid $350/hour.  That would have been very short lived.  I remember during the hiring process of a Jr. Network Administrator I joked with the VP of HR to find me someone who "had a heartbeat and could spell IT".  That's how desperate I was to fill all of the open headcounts.  Talk like that these days should lead to your dismissal.

Once the ax started to fall, I noticed some very disturbing behavior from IT managers.  They retreated back to their IT bunkers and settled in for the long war.  Gone were the days of collaboration and innovation; back were the days of policy enforcement and locked-down standardization.  The new thinking (which is very prevalent today in IT) was that added complexity and procedures led to job security.  While we were trying to simplify access to IT resources and dumb down infrastructure complexities during the bubble, the fallout after the crash scared these guys so much they increased the complexity. 

Ask someone in 1998 and the answer was "...piece of cake, I can have that hacked together in 2 days.", in 2005 you'll get "...I'm going to need you to submit your requirements in writing, I'll have an estimate in 2 weeks and will need to consult our feasibility committee and change control counsel.  How does next quarter sound?"

Now I'm not opposed to process and procedure, but if the procedure interferes with the building, marketing and selling of your particular product and service,  you need to fire the tool that got you in that mess.  IT people mean well and are still very talented, the majority of IT managers are lazy protectionists who have retired themselves into their silicon silos.  There are talented managers out there, but they don't last long in those environments.

Comments

[odiwan]

I don't miss the days of rapid fire code deployement. I do enjoy thinking about my work and getting a very stable app out there. I do miss the days of ping pong tables free food and drinks. dotcom days were great in that respect. However, i think the side effects of that era due to layoffs, stressful environments and high expectations of workers has triggered alot of the depression and anxiety we have today. but im all better now....

[FreeWine]

Wow!
So you guys are building, marketing and selling your particular product? That must make it easy for your IT folks.

See, this is a service economy...the new model is Market the service, Bid the service, next you Sell it and only then do you actually Build it. (if ever)

[vigilant20]

It's sad how true that is.

[Q...]

Perhaps too many managers and not enough talented personnel.