Silver Bullets
August 13th, 2006 by Lou
In Automated Detachment? Patrick laments dealing with IT managers constantly on the prowl for the quick fix.
Infrastructure managers are looking to take the thought out of building and maintaining and improving the processes used to manage the infrastructure and support business needs. They are looking for easy templates, quick hits that will yield drastic improvements with minimal investment, planning or even a modicum of thought.
Amen, but what can you do? Those that are thinking through rarely need our help. So is it co-dependency? Do we feed the disease or not? If we aren’t, I submit we are doing the best we can. As you say:
This is the reason we use a RACI chart for all our project plans, implementation roadmaps and process architecture designs. We need to force managers to think through what they want to accomplish, to take ownership and responsibility and to be accountable for the results.
You know, if you left that stuff out, you could stay employed by some of these folks forever. But I guess that’s not the point, right?
it service management
You’re right. There is some co-dependence and though staying employed is nice it is not the point. I would just like to break through the cloud of short-term thinking and demonstrate the value of making a commitment to proper application and infrastructure design and improvement. In an audio conference I did recently with my grad school I pointed out to the students that although the Big 3 auto manufacturers all use Six Sigma, Toyota’s Toyota Production System (TPS) has yielded more value in terms of reduced defects, market share and profitability even though it is based on the same foundational principles. This is because of the total commitment by the entire organization to quality. It’s part of their culture - the way they do business. U.S. companies tend to look to improvement and quality as point solutions, just as some IT folks look to tools, automation and templates for quick fixes.