How Do You Break the Chains of Professional Deformation in Your IT?
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If it weren’t that way, they would be long gone. But even your IT specialists are just people and from our won experience we can say that looking for the right way of company IT doesn’t always end with finding the right path. Why?
Because as people we have our own stereotypes, customs and mental processes. These are cultivated behavioral patterns that guide us thorugh our lives which means they also put their foot into the door of our work world. Many of our personal traditions helps us to be good at our jobs but there is a small group of those that are obstacles. And for us it is always difficult to uncover the things that are in our blind spot.
In the IT world, this selective subconscious blindness shows itself by the company running in its set ways regarding equipment, applications and processes. Selection outside of this comfort zone is unimaginable and the excuse is – current solutions and supplilers are tested and reliable.
If Henry Ford asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses. Do you see the problem now?
Origins of Profesional Deformation
The reason why IT guys are caught in this trap is very simple. For so eone to wkr as an IT specialist, he has to be in a constant cycle of learning, trying and finding solutions. And when you add to this the amounts of technologies in existence today and constantly emerging, if the IT specialists focused on everything, they would go crazy.
They also put together from their experience reliable sources, regardless of whether it is technologies or information. Then they return to them and that is how they close themselves up in the circle.
And as any other person, IT gyus have the right to select the brand, type or even a color that fits the. You may also be a witness to the neverending hidden fight between people who prefer to look through windows and those prefering a piece of an apple.
Just with employees in IT this shows itself in many areas so it influences all of the function of the IT department, meaning the operations of the whole company. Let’s be honest, no IT, co company runs well.
How Do You Tear Down the Blinds?
The solution is very simple – look at the costs of your company. Maybe it is possible that your IT can be managed in a different way that would lead to cost optimization. Because you are financial decision-makers, no one can ask of you to understand every and each bit of the technical details. But you have to understand finances.
Is truly your IT operated in a way there is no better financially optimal solution – CAPEX or OPEX wise? Could it be that your technicians are used to function in a certain world and that led them to overlook technologies that could have increased the financial health of your company?
It’s not they don’t want to, we have clearly stated that, it is because they have personal reasons for not looking in a certain direction when thinking about your company IT.
It is true that any change brings bout the need to adapt. In IT it means to learn to think in a different way or learn how to work with a new interface. You have to check not only the costs for the technology but also the costs for change. Maybe the numbers will look bad but what if they don’t?
Which Practical Steps Should You Take?
Simply put, your company, your responsibility. As a manager you have a huge responsiblity but also many options. Find a partner that will help you to evaluate the current state of your IT with the most efficient. And he has to do it in your own language. There is nothing worse that to listen to technical slang that just tells you nothing – that is a waste of time.
This partner should help you to find answers to questions like these:
- Which equipment do you actually use? (tangible and intangible)
- Which equipment do you need to use?
- What architecture should the infrastructure running your systems have?
- Do you get the best support?
- Do you need to outsource some activities to relieve the IT department from repetitive routine tasks?
- Can you consolidate some systems not to pay for identical SaaS?
This partner should do an analysis that will tell in managerial terms what needs your IT has and efficient you are in covering them. This external view will help you find stable footing for decisions that may not be comfortable for your technicians. As long as it’s working, do not touch it. But what if functionality and eficiency go hand in hand and then there is the time for interference.
It is up to you to do the research and figure out if your IT is optimized. And if it is not, then it is up to you to select a partner that will help you to find the right way and direct your technicians. They aren’t usually looking at the same numbers as you are.
Final Thoughts
Today’s article is different but not less necessary. In a world where ground breaking technologies emerge every day, it is necessary to keep up the pace with change and be able to react in time for the company to stay ahead and not get dragged down because of a world view that is the same as with people who think the best phone manufacturer is still Nokia. Or people that have the opinion that Romanian products will never be successful on the Czech market. Nokia is extinct and Dacia is one of the companies ruling Czech roads.
Break the status quo.
