2008/6/20 Erik Goldoff <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>: >> I would say that part of being a successful "IT guy", is being able to bring >> your accomplishments to the attention of others. If you do your job and do >> it well yet no one realizes that, then you are doing something wrong. > > I've got to disagree here ... in some cases (many, but not all) IT is > ubiquitous to the rest of the organization, just like public utilities... no > one pats the power company on the back because the lights come on every day > when you flip the switch, because you expect that to happen.
I think that's TVK's point: If the IT does their job right, nobody thinks about it. So part of working in IT is making sure the right people are aware that you're working hard to keep things working. Otherwise, IT gets forgotten when it comes to things like budgets, resource allocation, etc. Or worse, IT gets targeted for reduction, since people don't realize that keeping things running is work. The same problem exists in other fields, too. Security's a good example: Nobody thinks about security until there is a break-in. So if security is doing their job, they aren't noticed. "When I do right, nobody remembers; when I do wrong, nobody forgets." A related theme: I once had a customer who thought that us IT guys caused IT problems. You see, the only time he saw us was when we were there was something wrong and we went on-site to fix it. He actually submitted a formal request that we contact him personally at least 24 hours in advance of coming on-site -- because, of course, that way he could schedule for the IT problems we caused. My response included the analogy: "If a house is on fire, you will see fire trucks. That does not mean that fire trucks cause fires." -- Ben ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~
