Why, even the huge dogs (read: companies) still have very “small” IT departments. No, I don’t mean they have tiny people or even a small number of people — they do have a small-group feeling, though. Having recently switched from a company of a few thousand to one of tens of thousands of people, I’ve learned something very quickly…
Every company out there has to run about the same way. Sure, a publicly traded company has rules and regulations they must follow but when it comes down to the real work, it takes small teams of people to get the jobs done.
Take for example, a recent need — a few switches installed in a data center. These weren’t production switches but they were being used for development and testing, so they were no laughing matter. Rather than the normal steps:
- Submit a ticket (with a difficult system)
- Wait for a reply from the helpdesk (shouldn’t take more than 2 hours for them to type in a ticket)
- Speak to the person the ticket is assigned to (good luck reaching them by phone, email or telepathy)
- Go back and forth with IT and the group that needs the switches (because IT likes to feel real important)
- Order the parts (even though they exist somewhere else in an old storage area)
- Wait for an outtage window (that isn’t necessary because it’s not production)
- Have the switches installed and tested (that means, make sure the lights are on)
The way that a good IT department handles it is by skipping steps 3-6. In most organizations, that just saved 2 weeks worth of waiting time. Don’t get me wrong, it’s very important to keep track of what everyone is working on. It’s even more important to test things, especially if they might impact something else. But it’s not always necessary for IT to put up a tough image that says, “I am IT and I can put you off and make you wait for my help because you’ve no option.”
Next time, the finance or HR guy needs a bit of help, keep in mind, you have to give a little to get a tiny — And sometimes, acting little isn’t always bad either.
Photo credits: clayirving on flickr
Tags: large, data center, helpful, install, it deparment, necessary, network, small, stuck-up, stuffy, turn around
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