Revenge of the nerds: business users must take more responsibility for personal IT

David M Williams
Saturday, 31 January 2009 16:53

IT Industry - Market

What is new is that we’re in dire times. Anybody who isn’t watching their costs is failing to appreciate the current situation in the western world.

And here’s where the suits now need to pick up their act. It’s not a matter anymore of whether the arguments on either side are right or wrong. It’s not a matter of whose job it is. It’s a matter of how much it costs.

Consider that only just a decade ago you would find senior execs dictating their correspondence to a personal assistant. Now these same people are spending their days in Microsoft Word. If you advertised a management role and an applicant insisted they’d need extra PA’s to handle dictation you’d be flabbergasted.

So too we ought to be flabbergasted when a staff member thinks it reasonable to have manpower spent plugging in a device that they – or anyone – should reasonably be expected to do.

With IT, like all departments, having to face the prospect of taking on more responsibility – and with a potentially reduced headcount – the response to any demand for such personal assistance should be akin to “you’re joking, surely.”

Actually, one positive to come out of the economic meltdown is that those villains, the accountants, can suddenly become an unlikely ally.

Yes, it’s these folk who now wield power because they are in charge of the bottom line. If your company has difficulties with troublesome users who refuse to accept responsibility talk to the finance team.

They will grasp the cost of your time and the importance of using that time for the most productive and beneficial work. And unless it’s the finance team who are your worst offenders they’ll be happy to wield their big stick, championing the cause of users being more self-reliant for the basics.

This holds true for the business team up and down the entire ladder. Before reaching for the phone to call out for help think about the cost and think about what other projects you’re holding up just so your cable can be plugged in.