 Wide Area NetworkingThis newsletter is sponsored by GatewayNetwork World's Wide Area Networking Newsletter, 08/21/07A real-life example of something gone wrong in senior managementBy Steve Taylor and Jim MetzlerIn the July 17 newsletter, we admonished senior IT managers not to manage each IT component in isolation. In particular, we stated our belief that senior IT managers need to acknowledge that managing applications is a fundamentally new responsibility and that it is very difficult. We emphasized our belief that if you work in IT you have one of two jobs – you either develop applications or deliver them, and that IT organizations need to adjust their structure, tools and processes to respond to this way of looking at IT. That newsletter included some input from a reader who got in touch again as he wanted to clarify his environment. He wrote: “My group is a network operations, design, and implementation group. We are a Fortune 500 company and yet we cannot get funding for a true NOC. Instead, our company tries to use our IT customer support center and an operations group that supports the large computer systems to handle the functions of a NOC. These groups are not trained or experienced with network operations and as a result of our corporate security policy, they have very little, if any, access to the equipment. And yet, they are our front-line support. “As a result, we are tasked with all range of activities and it is the complex troubleshooting situations as described in the [July 17] newsletter that really consume our time. My frustration is that upper management does not want to expend the resources to build a true NOC but then we get tagged with proving the network is not the source of problems while also helping other groups resolve their issues. Again, I have no problem assisting in this process that is part of my job and it is a part that I actually enjoy. However, the frustration comes from the fact that other groups can claim that the problem is caused by the network and back out with little responsibility, while we are left with proving that the network is okay.
“And then, when the problem is resolved, upper management questions every decision made, despite having put the structure in place with a lack of processes that allows these situations to fester. As I told my manager after the problem described in [your] newsletter, I’ve learned my lesson to not actively work to resolve a problem as you will only be interrogated afterwards as to why you did it wrong. Better to let the next guy stand up and take the bullet.” In that newsletter we stated that many IT processes are dysfunctional. The feedback from the reader serves to confirm that belief. What about your operations environment? If you think that your operations environment is basically well coordinated and highly functional, write to us and tell us why you think that. Conversely, if you think your environment is dysfunctional, write to us and tell us why you think that.
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| Contact the author: Steve Taylor is president of Distributed Networking Associates and publisher/editor-in-chief of Webtorials. For more detailed information on most of the topics discussed in this newsletter, connect to Webtorials, the premier site for Web-based educational presentations, white papers, and market research. Taylor can be reached at taylor@webtorials.com Jim Metzler is the Vice President of Ashton, Metzler & Associates, a consulting organization that focuses on leveraging technology for business success. Jim assists vendors to refine product strategies, service providers to deploy technologies and services, and enterprises evolve their network infrastructure. He can be reached via e-mail. This newsletter is sponsored by GatewayARCHIVEArchive of the Wide Area Networking Newsletter. BONUS FEATUREIT PRODUCT RESEARCH AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Get detailed information on thousands of products, conduct side-by-side comparisons and read product test and review results with Network World’s IT Buyer’s Guides. Find the best solution faster than ever with over 100 distinct categories across the security, storage, management, wireless, infrastructure and convergence markets. Click here for details. PRINT SUBSCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE International subscribers, click here. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICESTo subscribe or unsubscribe to any Network World newsletter, change your e-mail address or contact us, click here. This message was sent to: networking.world@gmail.com. Please use this address when modifying your subscription. Advertising information: Write to Associate Publisher Online Susan Cardoza Network World, Inc., 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough, MA 01772 Copyright Network World, Inc., 2007 |
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