Jim Dettman
jimdettman at earthlink.net
Mon Jul 7 12:45:17 CDT 2003
John, I know what your going through. I have one large client, which has an IT department that constantly struggles with this. They go round and round with it all the time. The client is World Wide and I deal with all the North American operations, which has it's own IT department. For the size of the company, the IT department is way too small. The users, being told to get the job done, are frustrated with the length of time it takes for IT to get anything done. So they either develop it themselves or hire outside contractors to do it for them. The first is bad for many reasons. Most are developed very poorly. This makes them difficult to maintain (eating up time), are prone to breakage, and may not address the real issue in the first place. Employees often do not see the "big picture" from a corporate level. For example, an employee creates a system to do incentive calculations for payroll. First, maybe that it's possible that with some slight modifications, the app may be useable throughout the corporation, thus increasing ROI (Return on investment) and save the company money. Second, the company may stand back and ask "why are we paying incentive now?" and decide to do away with it, thus taking a different approach to solving the problem. Something the employee would never consider or could accomplish even if they did. The employee does not have "the big picture" and cannot make informed decisions, nor execute them without the authority. Then their is the typical lack of documentation. And what happens when the employee who writes it disappears? The knowledge of the app and what it does is lost. In most cases, it's redone at considerable cost just because it's too hard to figure out what's going on with it. In some cases, it's just forgotten. This is also what happens when consultants are hired in some cases. Then in addition there is the issue of ownership. This client spent over $10,000 on one app, only to get to the end and have the consultant refuse to release the source code after they failed to finish it. It failed because the consultant had no real knowledge of the existing applications and system and how to work with them. This applies to user developed apps as well. Poorly written apps can bring a network to it's knees. It's a catch 22 for the users though. Without requesting projects formally, the IT department will never grow, as management will never see the need to add more bodies. But if they ask, it may take forever to get the project done. And of course management is always wanting to cut rather then add. This whole issue has arisen from the fact that many products (like Access) make it all to easy to "develop" an app, but most users don't have the slightest clue on how to properly develop one. That's probably the best point you can make: they are doing your job and through lack of training will do it poorly, thus costing the company money in the long run. I could go on, but I've think I've mentioned enough that you can use. Jim Dettman President, Online Computer Services of WNY, Inc. (315) 699-3443 jimdettman at earthlink.net -----Original Message----- From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com]On Behalf Of John Clark Sent: Monday, July 07, 2003 12:34 PM To: accessd at databaseadvisors.com Subject: [AccessD] OT - My union grievance First I'd like to let you know where I am coming from. I have to be a union member...I work in a "closed" shop...but I am not a huge supporter of the union...they have their place, but they go overboard and protect people whom they shouldn't. I usually prefer to settle disputes by going to the boss and voicing my opinion. But around Xmas of this past year, there were many layoffs, and many more threatened. And, the majority of us believe this will be an annual event now. There are people out there doing our jobs that shouldn't be (i.e. nurses, social workers, etc.). I recently sent a letter to our union, which basically asked them to send out a blanket statement to it's membership (i.e. my brothers and sisters in unionism), that notified them that they should not be performing duties of other coworkers. Three others, in my department...the MIS dept...liked my letter and asked if they could sign on to it. I adjusted the original letter to reflect their problems as well...they are more tech related...and sent it out. Apparently, it ruffled some feathers, and soon after, the union filed a grievance on our behalf...turns out they can do this w/out us even wanting them to do it. The reason that I am writing to the list, is that I want ammo for my hearing tomorrow. It is just an initial hearing, but I would like to make some solid impressions. To do this I want facts, or at least quality in my statements. As you all know, Access is unique in that it can be used by a novice office worker for simple desktop dbs, as well as hard core programmers pumping out intense programs, and everything in between. But where do you draw the line? I have said that if someone creates something for their own use, that is saved to their HDD (i.e. a tool for them to do their job), then I don't have a problem with it. However, if it becomes, or is to become, a tool that they whole department will become dependant on, and/or it is going to reside on the network, then it should be created and managed by the MIS department. I have gotten calls in the past, saying that, "our program is down and our department cannot function w/out it. We need this fixed ASAP." My response has been, "What program?" Departments have become dependant on a program that we were totally unaware of its existence. Because these programs are written by non-programmers, they are often difficult, if at all possible, to repair. And, in some cases, the person who did write it, no longer works for that department and therefore cannot help them. The politicians...for those of you unaware, I work for a county govt...have sent out requests for each employee to write a small paragraph, justifying our positions...I've had to do this two or three times. I wouldn't have so much of a problem doing this, if I was assured that the people doing my job were exposed here. It seems to me that if they have the time to do my job, there job must not be keeping them busy enough, and therefore maybe that is where the cuts can be made. I would appreciate an advice, input, etc. that anyone could give me here. Take care! John W Clark _______________________________________________ AccessD mailing list AccessD at databaseadvisors.com http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com