> From: [email protected] [mailto:discuss- > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Tim Kirby > > The politics and handling of "IT" is every bit as dysfunctional > as you might expect, however, and the job titles and "official > status" of these IT guys make them almost indistinguishable > from a front line help desk tech (no, I'm not dissing the help > desk tech, don't go there). > > I am interested in hearing from anyone who works with or has > worked with companies that have actually recognized such > senior folks within their organizations. One term I've heard > the term "IT Fellow", but I'm really not hung up on the name > so much as the perceived role within the company and how such > people might appear in the company ranks.
For some people, it doesn't matter what you do; they're going to give you the respect they think you deserve. The CxO who thinks he's better than everyone else, and thinks the IT person's job is to update antivirus when he's not looking. Others are going to be respectful no matter what - simply because the IT person is in a help role, being helpful. Some IT people will be perfectly happy with the above. Others want to climb a ladder and perhaps be a little more like the CxO, trying to look back and look down on what they previously have grown out of. They might want to reduce being a "support" person and be more like an "engineering" or "architect" person. The entire answer to your question - both how the people get perceived, and what title they have - is dependent on what responsibilities they are entrusted with. I am *not* saying take away help desk role from them, unless it's distracting them from bigger more important things and can effectively be delegated. But entrust them to be experts in their field, and contribute to development projects, and management meetings, and management decisions. If it just so happens you have an IT director, and these guys are under him/her, and they've bumped into a glass ceiling... Maybe everyone is due for a promotion. _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] https://lists.lopsa.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss This list provided by the League of Professional System Administrators http://lopsa.org/
