*>>With the general business level ignorance of IT...* Let's just say that I disagree with this particular post you have made -- on many levels -- and leave it at that.
*ASB *(Find me online via About.Me <http://about.me/Andrew.S.Baker/bio>) *Exploiting Technology for Business Advantage... * On Mon, Mar 7, 2011 at 9:59 AM, Alan Davies <[email protected]>wrote: > With the general business level ignorance of IT, I don't think it makes > much difference, particularly in larger companies. IT *is* a commodity > outside of technology companies (and to a smaller extent within) and > engineers are part of that. You can help yourself by acting differently, > but it's not that likely to stop management at large treating IT differently > and not looking at options such as cheap outsourcing. Unfortunately it > takes a few years of that hell to come back to the realisation that in-house > expertise is often infinitely preferable! > > All the better if more people in the company know what the business goals > are an align themselves with them instead of playing their little niche, but > actually I think we're moving away from that now in larger organisations due > to outsourcing and the like. What's left is a company full of managers who > have no idea how anything works! > > Back to the OP's actual question - I think my previous answer is perhaps > along the lines that his one-over boss is coming from (rightly or wrongly). > He said he's been at the job for a long time so probably hasn't had much > pressure to change in the way you highlight. > > At the end of the day, all paths tend to lead up and the more you move your > skills away from sysadmin to a more open design type role, the more you > should get a new job as a technical architect! The more your move your > skills away to dealing with the business and enabling them through IT in a > way they can understand, the more you should get a job as an IT manager! > This is the way it should always be unless you believe in a job/role for > life ... everything is in transition to something else ... > > > > a > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Andrew S. Baker [mailto:[email protected]] > *Sent:* 07 March 2011 13:18 > > *To:* NT System Admin Issues > *Subject:* RE: Morale killer... > > I would argue that cross-business exposure and involvement is already a > necessity for sys admins and engineers who do not want to be mistaken for > mere commodities. > > Used to be a manager thing, but no longer limited to that level. Welcome > to IT and business in the 21st century. > > -ASB: http://about.me/Andrew.S.Baker > > Sent from my Motorola Droid > On Mar 7, 2011 5:28 AM, "Alan Davies" <[email protected]> wrote: > > It really sounds like she thinks you're just beavering away at behind > > the scenes infrastructure work right now. Changing laptop encryption, > > VPN, patching, etc. are just "blah blah blah" details in the background > > to business users. Working on projects that change the business or > > improve customer interaction in someway ... rightly or wrongly ... are > > seen in a different light by many in the business outside of IT. > > Getting involved in more of these projects and the PMs outside of the > > directly technical areas will get you a far higher profile in the > > business (assuming your business is large enough for this type of > > politics to be relevant!). > > > > Now, having said that, the above advice isn't really all that relevant > > to a Systems Engineer of any level IMO! If you were applying to be an > > IT Manager, Head of, etc. then I would be far more concerned about how > > well you communicate with and known the businesses outside of IT. > > > > In my experience, if you stick too long at something, then that's what > > you get known as and it can be very hard to break those perceptions. > > It's often a lot easier to leave in order to progress than to stay .. > > hell, I've seen a number of people leave and come *back* as contractors > > to the same place for twice the money! If you're going to stick at it > > and you enjoy working there, then your current image ... even if you do > > a really good job every day ... is not going to get you that promotion > > (assuming they're not just blowing smoke up your backside to sidestep > > the issue!!). You need to change your image and appear to be something > > that you haven't been to date. That may be what I described above with > > interacting with different parts of the business, or it may be utilising > > new skills. You'll need to sit down with your manager or above and > > understand what that is. > > > > One other option (and it's a very American thing, but hey, you're > > probably American anyway!) is to get a mentor in the company. This only > > really works with larger companies, but can show that you're serious > > about picking up your game and moving forward. It can also expose you > > to parts of the business with which you've not had much familiarity. > > Personally, after doing all this I'd be looking for your manager's job > > though! ;o) > > > > > > > > a > > > > ________________________________ > > > > From: David Lum [mailto:[email protected]] > > Sent: 04 March 2011 18:51 > > To: NT System Admin Issues > > Subject: Morale killer... > > > > > > > > vent mode:on > > > > I asked for a promotion to Sr. Systems Engineer but I have been denied. > > Talking to my boss she feels I am qualified but her boss disagrees - not > > because I don't fit the roles and skill set of a Sr. SE as listed in our > > job description, but because she wants to "see more broad scoped project > > proposals". Yeah sorry that my evaluation of products used across the > > enterprise for encrypting our laptops (chose PGP), remote access (went > > with RDS), 3rd party patching (Shavlik), and then doing the work of > > standing up the servers and installing configuring, deploying and then > > handing off of said items all in the last 12 months isn't broad > > enough... > > > > > > > > "You're really great at what you do and you meet the job description but > > it's not enough, sorry". Some of you guys can relate, right? I've only > > been doing IT professionally for 16 years...and admin-y stuff for 12 of > > that. > > > > > > > > Vent mode: off > > > > David Lum // SYSTEMS ENGINEER > > NORTHWEST EVALUATION ASSOCIATION > > (Desk) 503.548.5229 // (Cell) 503.267.9764 > > > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
