How do IT people act like in big companies? | Hacker News Reader

How do IT people act like in big companies?

2 pointsdiminium5 comments

Ask Slashdot: Do I Give IT a Login On Our Dept. Server? http://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/04/18/1538251/Ask-Slashdot-Do-I-Give-IT-a-Login-On-Our-Dept-Server

Ok, I got to ask this question to you guys since you guys seems reasonable enough to give an honest opinion. The above question was asked on Slashdot. The question is ok but the comments to the question is what get's me. I've never worked for a big company - always small ones and creating startups so I never had to deal with a "real" IT bureaucracy. If a problem needs to be solved, we figure out ways to solve them!

How different is this in big companies? Sure there's policy and things like that but from reading the comments, 90% of the people are basically saying "FIRE HIM" or "You're lucky you didn't get fired!". This doesn't make sense to me. I would thing the nice thing to do talk to him about different solutions to find a workable solution. That seems to be the most reasonable thing to do.

Why in the world do these guys sound so angry? Doesn't this anger basically kill any enterprenureship inside the company? If the first sign is to fire someone who happens to bring a computer to fufill a need that (probably) isn't being fufilled, won't that discourage everyone else from trying new stuff?

From the sounds of the IT people on Slashdot, if it takes 2 years or so to impliment something innovative, so be it! Of course, as we all know as enterprenures, by that time, the idea would probably be taken over by us.

Is this really how IT companies work in big organizations?

Yes. The first and only word you get out of a BIG CORP IT department for a first time request is "No".

Always think in terms of the other person: "So this crazy guy wants me to open a non-standard port so that he can run non-standard software, running a non-standard OS, on non-standard hardware that does who knows what without security, virusscan, back-ups, os and security patching, hardware maintenance contracts, vendor support, disaster recovery plan, hot/warm spare, etc. ... and when he gets run over by a bus or more likely switches companies, who's gonna get stuck having to somehow fix this thing when it breaks? Oh yeah me."

Answer: "No"

Having spent 3 years working at a major US carrier, I can tell you that the attitude they have is very common at large companies. Everything there is very controlled, including what tools you are given and what you spend every hour working on. The organization is designed to avoid making mistakes instead of innovating.

Carriers are an extreme example and there are big organizations that work better than others. Even so, the extent to which they can suppress people in their jobs is amazing.

For example, I rummaged through some of the trash bins at the office to rescue a set of speakers so I could listen to music during the day on my corporate PC (which had none). When I decided to move to a new desk a few months later there was fighting over my speakers since no one else was allowed to buy any!

Hi Tech dumpster diving is great! I've rescued notebooks which only needed to be matched up with a suitable but missing power brick, ditto for Sony monitors, even servers that were the "wrong" brand.

IT in big orgs is the very opposite of entrepreneurship. There are typically legitimate concerns for security. The imposition of standards, methodologies, even specific brands is all part of exercising and maintaining control. Of course, there are politics and financial clout involved as well.

For those who want to be free to satisfy their entrepreneurial instincts, best to leave and create a startup or join one.

The company in this case is also a hospital. You just don't fuck around when people's lives are at stake.

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