Why "Running IT As a Business" Is a Bad Idea

Comment by Robert Chipperfield on January 20, 2010 at 6:34pm

Interesting indeed, as are some of the /. comments (I didn't read them all, I'm afraid, but a quick scan was interesting).

It got me thinking about how our IS (Internal Systems) department is run at Red Gate (I'm a software engineer, so I'm a "customer" rather than a "provider"). From my point of view? It's truly awesome. Someone wanders around about once a week, and asks if there's anything I need. If there is, it's generally sorted by the next day. If I have an issue, it's resolved promptly. I've just lost a disk out of one of my test machines? Here, have a new one.

On the software side, our CRM system was built by the IS team. They released v1 a few months back, and the reaction was amazing. Suddenly people enjoyed using it, unlike our previous provider. Not perfect, mind you, but a whole heap better. People had feedback, the issues were tracked, and v2 came along a few months afterwards. A good number of those issues were fixed. Even more awesome!

So, is it run as a business? Do we log hours they spend helping each division, and charge them accordingly? Not at all. Do they take the "customer is always right" approach and deliver exactly what we demand every time, irrespective of whether it's the right solution (several posters mentioned that this often leads to quality suffering)? Nope. But do they listen to the needs of those in the business, and help them do their jobs to the best of their ability? Absolutely.

And wow, is it nice to have!

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