Discussion on:

10 things I've learned from working in IT

I said it before Jack...seems to me you have learned nothing in 20 years. Windows is for the home user period and although Linux is also a UNIX derivative and has advanced a lot since conception the problem is the PC architecture...of course you don't understand why probably because you are not an engineer and know the nuts and bolts of computer design. IBM, HP, Oracle/Solaris (Sun Microsystems) are Linux compatible now but if I buy their hardware I be dam if I use Linux. The biggest mistake those companies have made is to use the Intel architecture instead of the RISC architecture they use before and that mistake will cost them the world market they enjoyed before.

Good list... but "thin skinned need not apply" is funny. It should be a tenet of IT hiring, but oddly I see mostly developers and network admins that are "never wrong" and smug about it even when faced with facts otherwise. And, that's with over 12 years of IT in 4 industries, be it Healthcare IT, Retail/E-Commerce IT, TeleComm IT or Defense Department.... conincidental, I think not. cheers!

And Item 11 could be...10 percent of the end users will create 90 percent of your work.

Your comments #s 1 and 2 are a huge part of #8. The "fear" of change is called experience. Vendors are promising the moon and stars, but those of us that have been around - and the smart ones with the checkbooks - know to stay away from the "bleeding edge". Businesses have to deal with multiple systems and the vendors who provide them upgrade on different schedules. Your vendor for one software package does not necessarily know how their changes will impact the rest of your environment. You have to be very careful when upgrading one so that no dependencies get broken.

By point.
1. Yes, what do sales people know anyway?
2. Even microsoft software can crash a windows machine. I've got windows as the number 3 OS behind Mac which is a branch of Unix, Unix/FreeBSD/Linux and then Windows, with linux being the absolute best value with Ubuntu being the "best" version at the moment. Have tested many distros in the past few months. You do need to do homework to be able to use Linux.
3. Not just desk tops and servers. Any machine that runs/works is going to fail at some point. Plan on it.
4. Most people, if you believe general servey polls, don't even know the three branches of government in the USA let alone the nuances of RAID or even what RAID stands for. No surprise here.
5. Have first hand knowledge of a multi billion dollar international company that screwed up and lost several months worth of data because they had failed to do backups due to personel issues.
6. Move company data and secrets to somewhere out of the companies control? Maybe, but certianly not an automatic for everyone. Besides, clouds biggest and best trick is on demand scaling. If you don't need that, maybe you don't need cloud.
7. Linux still requires many hours of research to master. Not exactly an easy deal.
8. Always amazed at how the talking heads don't ever discuss case studies. Theory is nice but practical application is where software lives and dies.
9. You can use a boot disk and recover .qbb or .qbw files and you should before you even think about touching a slowbooks install, so not getting that. Not doing field work anymore, but generally avoided, I always ran/run my own company, poorly designed systems that were seriously screwed up. Low probability of meeting customer expectations and a ton of land mines to include the possibility that the customers system never worked properly in the first place. In companies that I did all the systems for, no problem: I did everything myself with maintance in mind, so generally achieved good results. In the early days got stuck pulling 20 hour days for free when things went bad. You need to be careful what you attempt and how you go about it. If you aren't sure what you are doing, best to excuse yourself and re-evaluate. If you have a boss from hell, get a new job. No self respecting person should put up with that crap.
10. I always say that if by some magic I was to know every thing there was to know about IT just before you asked me if I knew everything about IT, by the time I said "Yes", I wouldn't any more and that futher if anyone told you then knew everything about computers or even just about one operating system that they were either lying or stupid. Okay, so some masters master level techs are unbelievablely good, but they still don't know everything. If you can't figure things out quick, go into management or some other position where being wrong/uninformed isn't immeadiately appearent.

After 30 years, I've concluded that there is one lesson all IT people should learn immediately: don't tell anyone you're in IT.

The folks outside of work ("lice" - that is, the ones who want to, "pick your brain") will call you whenever 1) their wireless router needs rebooting, 2) they can't figure out how to install memory, 3) they need MS Office -- but don't want to pay for it, 4) they want to buy a computer and - unlike any other time - want your advice (which they will ignore anyway, in favor of buying a Gateway or some other POS).

As for work, the more you exhibit you know, the more likely you'll be feared - especially by ... (sorry, giggling hard at the moment)... "Information Security" folks. Most organizations operate under the golden principle that ignorance (of computer systems) *is* their primary ring of security. After all, if you don't know what access you have, you can't cause damage. And, since they don't know to lock down, or the systems they use don't have the ability to lock down security, or even where to find a log (provided logging is even turned on), well, anyone who comes along with two neurons to rub together is instantly branded a dangerous hacker.

Oh - the ones who's hair turns gray in the first year: those are called, "fakes." They've very likely never even built a computer, or programmed a computer, let alone have the qualifications for the job they lied on their CV/resume to get.

The only thing an IT person should think about is not platforms, security, clouds, OS's or one's self. They may be good for conversation and articles, but that's all. The only reason IT exists is to make sure everyone else can get their assigned job done. And while fixing the issues is vital, it is far from the most important part of the job. Keeping the corporate users feeling that they have what they need to get their job done is THEE key. If more IT people would remember that, there would be a lot less conflicts between IT and the rest the the users.

Nothing is new in IT. It's all been done before.

There is nothing more irritating, or dangerous, than an incompetent manager.

I'd like to add that the real cost of hardware goes far beyond hardware SLA's and should be ongoing IT hardware equipment costs should be salvaged by purchasing gently used or refurbished IT hardware.

...so how do you know when you apply for a job there.
- Ask the manager, director or VP directly how they view IT, you'd be surprised how often their answers can be very revealing
- Look at their annual report!
I can't tell you in such little space how to analyze all this. Why do you think IT workers jump around so much? If you will be viewed as ONLY an expense and not a business critical team member, RUN!!!
So, this is what I've learned after 25 years in IT, dig deep for the best places to work.
It's worth it.
Jack - great list. Just look at the comments, so many of us have scars from all ten!!!!

"If you really want the most stable Windows platform you can get, install only software from Microsoft."

Man, how much did they pay you to say that ???

with the possible exception of the part about "install only software from microsoft" I have to pretty much agree with the rest. I do wonder how different the world would be, if we told the complete, unadulterated truth about everything. Would people still buy stuff? I dunno. They probably would not buy anything NEW but that's just my prejudice talking.

Agreed that you will eventually contract malware, but Microsoft's virus scanner/remover/blocker tools are no better than anyone else's. And small outfits, actually spend TIME and help you sort things out. That is called "quality" and small outfits can afford to do it, where large outfits often can't or don't, because of the bold decision by some bean counter in an obscure corner of an office somewhere.

for 2 decades in the IT industry I saw a lot of zealots but my observation is that Windows servers are gaining territory faster then the *nix distros in the desktops and notebooks. And the main challenge for MS are the high expectations from the new versions of their OS-es. Another thing is that there is plenty of third-party software which runs fine on windows systems and you could not expect just to pile software on top of the OS and every thing to work fine. Besides most of the times the problems are not with the OS, but among the mentioned third-party applications themselves. And regarding security which is my area of interest, MS made a huge advance. It is yet to see how the IOS and Android will be affected by the same plaques but it already started.

I could not have said it better-I just finished a technical class and pretty much said the same things to all the youngsters in the class!

Akin to blaming the fire department for having to put out the fire.

Thanks for a great read and a very accurate view of the IT field.

Point #1 - A cause of much pain and suffering. Take everything the salesman / consultant says with a bucket of salt. Where possible ignore them and instead talk to the customers on the sites where their stuff has already been rolled out.

Point #2 - Certainly true but on a few occasions even when I added Microsoft software to a Microsoft machine the stability went out of the window!

...is that double disk failures do occur in the same array - we had two at the same time and another one a few months later. This was nothing to do with ignoring "replace-me" messages, just really bad coincidence of hardware failures. It's why we take and check regular backups so that we can rebuild the entire array from bare metal if we have to. Things got better when we bought Netapp filers with dual redundancy arrays; we are still waiting for three drives to fail at the same time in the same array.

In any IT department, there are people who are very skilled at doing their job, and those that are very skilled at keeping their job. These two sets appear to be mutually exclusive.

Whenever a new senior manager (with no IT background - to bring a fresh prespective 'kay..) gets his teeth into one of the latest buzzwords I start cringing - a little knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Whether you send an email, a set of instructions, or teach, most (not all) users will not follow, not read, not listen, or, for those who get the info, forget it later.

I have a backup appliance that delivers everything promised (Eversync -formerly Revinetix).

Printers has always and always will spell trouble. Drivers, codetables, ink, paper jams, paper size, spooling problems etc.

Software, hardware, design, bar codes, RFID, printers, programmers, media, ribbons, lamination, thermal, inkjet, and anything else that trauma has blocked from my memory. Unless you're in a graphics shop, avoid them like a rabid pit bull with AIDS.

Greg House - "Everbody lies"

"IT will give you gray hair"; this is a very intelligent observation. I was a DBA who was charged with administering a large network while developing software applications. At the same time, staff members brought their personal laptops, mobile phones and watches to me for repairs.

This quantitative overload planted lots of grey hairs on my head.
While it was not the case prior to assuming those responsibilities, I am surprised that I am not the only victim.

11. Clients never lie. (I swear I didnt install that etc???/I never go to porn sites on my work PC.)
12. Clients are always right. (Every one in IT can fill this one in of an example of their own.)

I have found in my 30 years that 90% of requested changes to systems can be done by 2 people in 6 months!

First you plan, then you do, then you check, and finally you act. Spend more time on 1 and 3 you fill find 2 and 4 are much easier.

A lot of this is true except Jack's Linux vs Windows statements. I have an awful lot of Windows desktops and servers out there that are not and have never been infected or compromised, and I have also seen the easily compreomised environments he speaks of. It depends largely on how you administer Windows. I can't tell you just how stupid some of the Windows IT people are, using common word passwords that match the usernames, no firewalls, 3rd party apps that don't belong... If you treat Windows with the intelligence and respect you'd treat Linux, then the security is pretty solid. i see the password attempts, I see the malware coming in from spam, but am i being infected? No. I'd say less that 1% of my Windows boxes get anything on them over their entire long LIFE. There are a lot of reasons why Linux is a bad bet for business on the desktops, including the end user experience being a half-baked attempt to keep up with the functionality we expect in Windows and macs. Talk about FUD! He's right about the 3rd party apps... if you instal something that's written like garbage and then wonder why your OS is acting flaky, then you need to ask why you really need that software and what has it done? Another point is #11: Wipe the pre-installed versions of Windows and install clean from your own OEM/Volume license disk. The vendors break so much stuff with all those useless apps and trial wares and bizzarre configurations. The hour or so it takes to install a clean version of Windows and updated drivers is well worth it before deploying that and expecting years of good service.

"Its not a matter of if but when your desktop or server will be compromised". What about laptops? Are you saying the risk is higher for desktops or servers and lower for laptops? If so, I don't agree.

Found myself in similar places sometimes. I'll add that some people believe everything is so simply to buy and use for how it looks, that it should be a fool's job to make it work.

Once you think you have all the answers, they change you all the questions....

After being in both academics and IT I think another excellent point is if you want to find out how well you know something, try to teach it accurately.

I've attended plenty of college classes with professors who know their stuff backwards and sideways but don't know how to teach. I can't teach worth a fried motherboard myself.

Twenty-some-odd years in IT have taught me that Murphy's Law is the basis of the universe. Maybe the fact that my name is Murphy has something to do with this viewpoint.

One more challenge in IT is that we need to be efficient 24/7. Whenever my phone rings in holidays, I wish it should not be an emergency call. I have abruptly ended my personal work for emergency breakdown calls most of the times in my career. Now I am used to it.

... you must have a horse.
I've seen it many times that people would like to achieve something without proper resources. Either they don't have hardware, or they go with minimal/cheapest offer. Or they say "We don't need all the planning now, just do it, we'll sort documentation at the end".

After about 20 years also I concur with my learned colleague's points. I would add that as an IT person every problem that arises is your personal fault because you represent all of "IT" to the user, you are the designer and architect of all IT systems to them.
The industry is probably one of the most dynamic areas around, you have to learn every day, never regard yourself as a "Guru", there are no Gurus, only people with a little more specialized insight and skills.
IT people are often guilty of looking down on users, and not understanding their specific areas of work.

1) These days, where does the IT department start and end? The line has been blurred. For example, departments such as Marketing, HR, and Finance have their own tools (ie. SAS, OBIEE, Business Objects) and even their own servers to run Oracle/SQL Server databases. Similarly, for any office job, it is implied that an applicant needs to be experienced with MS Office.

2) Process improvement (ie. Six Sigma) has made working in Corporate America more challenging than ever. Everyone expects you to do more with less while working on multiple projects simultaneously and being able to deliver on time. At the same time, a typical day at the office includes multiple meetings, phone calls, putting out fires, random cube stops, conference calls, e-mails, IMs, and voice mails, encumbering your day to such a point that it's past 12noon and you have not accomplished a thing!

3) Related to point #2, the situations created in the office environment can be immeasurably stressful. It is not unusual to work 10-20 extra unpaid hours per week (as a salaried employee) to meet deadlines. You can let this slide a few times, but when it happens on a regular basis, it begins to eat away at you when you realize that you are not being paid for your time.

4) In my observations, today's office culture is extremely competitive and full of liars, backstabbers, cut-throats, and connivers. You need to make sure you CC all the necessary individuals and save/archive every single e-mail you send out as potential evidence in a s/he said s/he said situation.

5) Related to #2, you are forced to fill out self-reviews and complete documentation to evaluate yourself and your performance, which determines your bonus (if your company offers it). So even if you know you've invested every last fiber of your being into producing high-quality deliverables and your manager does not agree with you, your bonus and/or potential salary raise and/or imagine in the department/company can be negatively affected. Basically, there is a lot of cronyism and subjectivity in today's office workplace, giving rise to point #3.

Agree with Charles...
There are many great open source and third party tools, for a plethora of services and functions that work great without payin' Micro$oft.

Knowing the good tools is the trick - opening the door for users to download apps discovered via a google search, or by inadvertent drive-by "plug-ins", is negligent.

It's like anything - soft control and education go a long way. Remember... support people!