working in the IT sector

thebourke

Does anybody think there is a lot more administration in IT now compared to maybe 5 or 10 years ago.

Even to do simple tasks.It takes forever.

I work in the IT infrastructure area on the windows side and its crazy the amount of paperwork/politics to get simple tasks done.

SVI40

Yep, definitely. But I feel much of it is down to the sector setting and following correct processes, change control, etc. rather than just winging it as I've experienced in the past.

Jim2007

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058363505/working-in-the-it-sector

Yes and that is there because people make so many FUs by winging it. And most of the time this winging it is done by inexperienced people who don't have the level of knowledge or insight to do it.

Back in the old days IT was a support to business so rather than depending on it, it was a bonus. Now companies depend on it and IT is doing stuff that could seriously damage a company, the public and even kill people. So yes, you can expect to see more administration, just as if you were doing anything else that could cause harm such as running a chemical factory for instance.

I think it is very likely that at some point the professional will be regulated in terms of qualifications, etc… the same as say doctors, accountants, lawyers etc…

It's the same with every profession they all have more admin, and protocol, more accountability, and a chain of evidence.

It has its good and bad sides more accountability and no hiding places are good the amount of work it adds to the real work is the downside.

Daith

I do wish , especially in the public/civil service, there was a lot more procurement drawdowns. Having to go multiple quotes for and tenders and evaluations for standard stuff is a pain

Flinty997

In my experience a lot of it is nonsense.

Usually it ends up with the same outcomes, but taking vastly longer to do it. Most of it is change for sake. Because most of it is check box exercises. We are utterly swamped with it.

Padre_Pio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122485161#Comment_122485161

Most of it is a result of some dumbo in the past making a mistake that any half capable person would never make and the business forced to act.

Why do I have to get my POs reviewed by two people and not just one? Because in the past some dumbo and his idiot friend were ordering car parts for themselves on the company account and signing off each others POs.

Flinty997

I don't mean things like that. I mean I've got to document a daily task that takes a minute to do but 20 mins to document, log. Its never been peer reviewed or audited.

thebourke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122485440#Comment_122485440

I agree with you here!Same in my job.

BrianD3

As stated above, everything is made complicated in response to the actions of dumbos and arseholes. It then become a self perpetuating process. E.g. how many people are employed in IT and how many time consuming security measures are required for every end user because morons can't refrain from clicking on phishing links

magicbastarder

in my experience, a lot of it is down to 'let's outsource the work to whoever will do it for the cheapest, and then have to tie ourselves in knots putting processes in place to deal with them not being able to deliver what they promised'. it's more about slowing down the incompetency.

LambshankRedemption

Yes, and then add in one other curveball. The systems used to monitor the processes were not designed with the processes in mind. They are one size fits all applications. Where 2 or more systems are in place they most often don't talk to each other.

Often times, the new digital process is the same paper-based process just on computer, and "sure thats how we've always done it".

I was following a thread on boards recently where a guy wanted to have a website that people could visit on their phone and fill out a PDF to record tests done on some machine. I've worked in places with a similar setup and the user experience was painful.

Another place I worked in, you had to fill out your timesheet in excel, print it out, get your manager to sign it, and then give it to the receptionist who would scan each one back into a computer. This, in an office of 60 engineers.

This is where the position of Digital Transformation comes in, and hopefully, (he says wishfully) will improve things in some workplaces in the future.

Flinty997

In one place we had a senior manager who was unable to use our systems, so he would duplicate everything in excel and have duplicate systems and workflow in parallel and almost always out of sync with each other.

Ray Palmer

The reality is that programmers standards have dropped drastically over the years. It used to be people who were really technical and dedicated to what they did. Then there were tons of people with no natural ability "learning" IT. I was recently working on a project and a graduate was fixing the bugs. There was a drop down list of over 100 items making it unusable ( programmed by a senior developer) so the the simple request was to make it a prompt button with filter list.

The graduate didn't know what a prompt button was and didn't understand why F4 should function on the field. Then he goes off to the UX team who also didn't know what a prompt button looked like or why F4 was important. They were al brought up only using a mouse. The software overall was full of such basics missing functions bringing all user performance down to the same level requiring a mouse to fill in forms. Don't get me started on tab order. I have seen many GUI front ends put on software making everything slower but easier to train

The thing is the developers that are far inferior to the past think they are really good at their jobs. They now need more testing than before and stricter rules about deployments. Look what happened in Natwest as that is a prime example of needing strict protocols and testing