“IT IMPACTS”

Having been in and around numerous IT shops, one observation has been consistent: there is always friction between the Applications Development and Infrastructure/Operations groups. That friction can range from minor skirmishes to outright hostility, complete with drive-by shootings, stabbings, and open warfare.

The reasons for this are simple, but surprisingly, not always clear or obvious to the warring factions within IT. Applications Development make changes to the software environment. On the other hand, Operations/Infrastructure’s role is to ensure stability in the environment and to maximize application software availability, or uptime. The greatest threat to that stability is “change”. Therefore, by definition, these two groups have missions that are at odds with each other. When compounded by poor communication and/or lack of trust, things can easily escalate out of control.

One of my pet peeves has always been when the IT staff moves the front-lines of the battle to the business. One common example is when the Application Developers tell the business that a project will be late because of something Operations/Infrastructure did, or did not do.

When we do this, we really make IT look foolish. The business has every right to expect IT to work in harmony. Taking an example to a truly absurd level, it would be similar to Finance saying that a travel expense reimbursement could not be processed because the accountants handling the debits don’t work well with the accountants handling the credits. Ridiculous? Yes, but that’s the way IT sounds we finger-point within IT.

What’s to be done? Care enough to stop the finger-pointing, and find a way to work together. Take that first step. Take pride in where you work. Do you care about IT’s reputation? Who would not want to be proud of where they work?