IT as a career
2006-03-23 14:14![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
flexibeastEarlier today i came across an article which suggested that IT has gotten a bad rap that hurts its reputation as a top-notch career path, and went on to attempt to correct various 'misconceptions'.
Unfortunately, the article fails to consider the impact on IT workers of one of Murphy's Laws on Technology: "Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand". This single sad fact has a number of implications which make an IT career less than rosy:
So although the article enthusiastically points out that business relies on IT more than ever, it doesn't point out that many businesses therefore have higher expectations of IT without actually understanding the complexities of what's going on. And guess who suffers the consequences?
And as for breathless talk about the fast pace of technological change: pffft. i would suggest that most IT projects for businesses do not involve new and exciting technologies (for the simple that businesses quite sensibly are often not fussed about trying technologies with an unproven track record), and are themselves often that not interesting (inventory-tracking system, anyone?). It's a rare architect who gets to regularly create highly original designs based on new building materials . . . .
Addendum, 30.3.2006: Further to all the above is the article "Things that would convince me there's a skills shortage".
Unfortunately, the article fails to consider the impact on IT workers of one of Murphy's Laws on Technology: "Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand". This single sad fact has a number of implications which make an IT career less than rosy:
- IT managers without IT knowledge forcing their staff to use tools that aren't necessarily the best or most appropriate for the job, but instead have been well-marketed. Imagine a manager without medical training ordering hir op theatre staff to not use forceps but to use a pair of pliers instead (not least because "the vendor provides support" :-P ).
- The setting of outrageous timeframes for projects to be completed. Imagine a construction manager promising that a 100-story building will be completed in six months, in order to win a tender.
- Ludicrous expectations about what can actually be achieved by current hardware and software. Imagine a vehicle manufacturing business which ordered its engineers to design an eighteen-wheeler which could travel from Melbourne to Sydney in less than five hours, using only 10 litres of fuel.
- An unwillingness to take IT security and reliability seriously. Imagine a jeweller who doesn't lock up hir place at night, and hasn't insured hir working tools.
So although the article enthusiastically points out that business relies on IT more than ever, it doesn't point out that many businesses therefore have higher expectations of IT without actually understanding the complexities of what's going on. And guess who suffers the consequences?
And as for breathless talk about the fast pace of technological change: pffft. i would suggest that most IT projects for businesses do not involve new and exciting technologies (for the simple that businesses quite sensibly are often not fussed about trying technologies with an unproven track record), and are themselves often that not interesting (inventory-tracking system, anyone?). It's a rare architect who gets to regularly create highly original designs based on new building materials . . . .
Addendum, 30.3.2006: Further to all the above is the article "Things that would convince me there's a skills shortage".
