Of course, none of them will ever have to leave the
comfort of their mansions and yachts to actually fix
anything, will they? Meanwhile, the grunts who actually do
know something of value in situations like this will still be
called upon to drop everything, abandon their families, and
rush to work so that some whimpering twit in East Jibib can
log on to order enough paper clips to fully expend their
yearly budget allocations before the cutoff.
What a joke! The CIO won't even be called at all, disturbing
his precious beauty sleep, unless the entire company is at
risk of foundering. At that point, his only responsibility will
be to assign blame to some hapless scapegoat, thus
keeping his record of blamelessness intact.
Sorry, but I've been in this game for over 35 years, and I've
seen enough of this posturing malarkey to keep me
vomiting for 35 more. The average CIO is a clueless twit
who has never, ever had more than a brief and peripheral
involvement with anything involving actual problem solving
and work, and has risen to their position by virtue of being
adept at blaming others for their own planning and
implementation shortcomings. They are, of course, abetted
by their fellow C-suite losers, who have likewise learned
that delegating blame is the key to success.
This, and many other reasons, are why the United States is
in such dire straits, and all the pompous and self-serving
posturing by the C-suite criminals will not avert the
disaster that awaits the rest of the country as a direct
result of their malfeasance and incompetence.
Sorry, boys and girls, but the party is over, and all the
incompetents who got us to this point have escaped with
the maximum compensation possible, and will spend the
remainder of their lives laughing at the people who
actually work for a living and follow their mindless orders.
Epic Fail.
The next time one of these mewling sycophants tries to
call me out on Christmas, they will get nothing but a busy
signal. Two can play this game.
No let up for IT bosses over the holidays
Summary
The end-of-year holidays might be a time of peace on Earth, but CIOs are unlikely to be so relaxed this festive season, with many saying they'll still be on call over the holidays.
Topics
Christmas may be a time of peace on earth but CIOs are unlikely to be so relaxed this festive season, with many saying they'll still be on call over the holidays.
The latest silicon.com CIO Jury found two-thirds of IT bosses confessing they'll be available to work should anything go wrong over the Yuletide holiday.
Some on-call CIOs are required to support their company's operations around the world, which may cover countries that don't celebrate the holiday.
Jeff Roberts, director of IT at global legal firm Norton Rose, said: "We have offices worldwide and commitments to clients, so there is likely to be some business happening somewhere. I am always available to be called if necessary but I also have a great team made-up of several on-call technical experts and escalation managers. Who gets called on Christmas Day - if anyone - will usually depend upon the severity or urgency of the problem."
It's not global companies who need round the clock support over the festive period - some UK-specific businesses also require their IT staff at the highest level to be available throughout the holiday. For CIOs from hospitals and other emergency services, for example, Christmas day can be just another busy working day.
Some media companies too do not grind to a halt - Ian Auger at ITN said: "You never know what will happen in a 24/7 organization and Christmas is no exception. We have staff scheduled to work who can deal with most issues but I, and other senior members of my team, will always be available to back them up if needed. From a news perspective, Christmas is always thought to be a quiet time but there is usually something going on around the world that seems to go against this."
Not all organizations require their IT head to be on call on Christmas Day and four out of the CIO Jury can rest easy in front of the Queen's Speech this year.
Today's CIO Jury:
• Ian Auger, IT director, ITN
• Dr Ben Booth, global CTO, Ipsos Mori
• Steve Clarke, broadband systems & operations director, AOL
• Pete Crowe, IT director, Fat Face
• Martin Frick, CIO, Avis Europe
• Steve Gediking, head of IT & facilities, Independent Police Complaints Commission
• Chris Martin, CTO, Cheapflights
• Jeff Roberts, director of IT, Norton Rose
• Richard Storey head of IT, Guys & St Thomas' Hospital
• Norman Swift, head of IT, John Lewis
• David Supple, head of IT, ECOTEC Research & Consulting
• Steve Williams, director of information systems and services, Newcastle University
Talkback Most Recent of 11 Talkback(s)
-
thetwonkey22nd Dec 2008 -
Unions
2009 will be the year that IT workers unionize in droves. No more unpaid overtime or working after hours trying to hit hourly changing priorities. No more ******** clueless managers who have little to no experience getting promoted because they screwed up elsewhere in the organization. Time to take back what is deserved.
VoiceOfLogic25th Dec 2008 -
Signs of a good executive are....
#1. Make your staff do the work
#2. Make sure you get the credit for good management
So I have my MCSEs and MCSDs working this holiday. Tomorrow is just another day for these people. Although the rest of our company is off, I mandated all IT staff to report in. After all, we have thousands of SRX cases open with Microsoft. We have a couple of issues with our production deployment of Exchange 14 and Windows 7. But I will be on-call. I told them, call me on my cell and leave a message if I do not answer. I then reported to other C-level executives here that as CIO, I DEMANDED all IT staff to work with no additional salary incentives. I was applauded as a hero. I told the guys I would have ordered in pizza but all the pizza places are closed. Luckily my rep had a great idea, order it today and let them ear it cold.
Mike Cox24th Dec 2008 -
In Plain English...
You're a schmuck. Lose the arrogance, jackass.VoiceOfLogic25th Dec 2008 -
wow, bitter much?
While I agree that most top-level degree holding CIOs are rather clueless, I don't think it is quite as bad as you make out.
If you've really been in IT for 35 years (which would go back to the days when it was called "DP" - data processing) and you're still sub-level employed, this says more about your skills than your boss's...
vaporland26th Dec 2008 -
Typical
What a typical response to someone who apparently isnt affected by idiot managers who have done nothing but screw up all their lives and get reward by THEIR idiot bosses who, both, protect each other for no other reason than job security.
Doesnt take a psychologist to tell you've not seen any crap. YET.VoiceOfLogic31st Dec 2008 -
Signs of a REALLY good MANAGER are...
How about staying in town and manning the fort the entire holiday season and letting your technicians take the break? On salary, without any additional benefit to doing so.
Cuz that's what I'm doing.
Bad things happen when people don't care. What was that quote about apathy and evil?
zyphlar26th Dec 2008 -
what the cio really does.
yes, i know this will probably get me flamed, but it has to be said.
the cio of a company is nothing more than a cheerleader for the it department. they are well paid because they have the gift of gab, not because they can tell you what happens when you plug an ethernet cable back in to the switch it came out of.
if you ever watched office space, these guys do what Tom Smykowski did for the company. he talked to the customers so the engineers wouldn't have to, because he has people skills.
now we can all pray to get plowed into in our trucks as we back out of our parking spaces or we can just get back to work making everything better. if you want credit for your hard work, skip your bosses and tell their bosses the problems are solved. interrupt a meeting and inform them all that the solution YOU came up with has worked. you'll get credit faster that way.
lalali.laonem28th Dec 2008 -
RE: No let up for IT bosses over the holidays
A cheerleader with the gift for bridging geeks with the suits with the bean counters. A rare talent which is rightly rewarded.
dreampod30th Dec 2008 -
RE: No let up for IT bosses over the holidays
no one appreciates IT workers. they only come to us
with complaints and when they have problems. when
everything is functional for weeks at a time, no one
cares about us. we are the lowest caste in society.
but mark my words, human beings cannot be treated like
this forever. when IT workers collectively realize
that they are being mistreated and disrespected, they
will unionize and represent.
you think IT is unimportant? computers control every
aspect of your lives. they are completely integrated
into society, from traffic control, 911 emergency
response, to e-business, credit card processing, and
all of your fun stuff, like games, movies, and sports
events.
when IT workers leave their charges, the computers,
blood will RUN in the streets and chaos will reign.
just think about that. it would be like all of the
sudden, fire fighters, nurses, police officers,
judges, and world leaders all quit their job
simultaneously.
so next time you're about to mouth off and scream at
your friendly IT worker for something, just remember
that he/she is a human being just like you and we
don't have to take it. we have society by the balls,
its just that currently it workers have none due to
our sedentary habits and the asocial nature of our
work.
so in summary, next time you see your friendly IT
worker, give him/her a hug or a complement.
ITUnionizer30th Dec 2008 -
Its time
Its time that we all gather ourselves and begin to create a massive US IT union that represents everyone from designers to developers to tape operators. Shift workers and day workers alike.
No more unpaid overtime while lawyers and doctors and plumbers and electricians ALL charge for every damn second they speak with you..
No more projects with changing priorities without renegotiation of the project/contract. No more scope creep from clueless users who only want more for less.
You get what you pay for. You expect people to develop your application at night and on weekends/holidays WITHOUT compensation? (MONEY not this fake comp-day ****). You want that? Then you get crappy applications with bugs and data problems.
Would you seek the advice a divorce attorney if you expected them to study and review your case without pay? Good luck in that divorce. Hope you didnt need your left arm.
Would you demand that electrician put in the wiring for your new extension above the living room? Hope your fire department is close.
Would you expect your surgeon to perform your operation without sufficient and fair pay for his expertise and skill? Hope you have good insurance.
Fact is, we can and will shut down this nation if you keep treating us like ****. People are fed up.VoiceOfLogic31st Dec 2008
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