This is a big, well-known company, and there is a story related to it on the /. front page right now.
The problems:
- No network documentation whatsover.
- IT dept fragmented into multiple competing divisions, and each division was
sub-divided by device type. So there were no *network* engineers, there were
"firewall engineers", "router/switch" engineers, etc, even though everything
was interconnected. So no single network engineer could solve a problem, it
always required dragging people from multiple divisions/depts into an issue.
- Workload imposed on one person that should have been distributed across three.
- Engineers not allowed to make any engineering decisions whatsoever.
Nonsensical procedures mandated by management wasted huge amounts of time and
staff, but no engineers were allowed input into the system.
- Change control procedures that made it impossible to get the job done *and*
follow mandated procedures. Everything required many levels of approval,
but the approvers couldn't be bothered to approve in a timely manner,
(if at all), and 50% of the time the change was never fully approved, so the
only way to get the work done was to do it anyway and run the risk of getting
caught in a change audit.
- Clueless managers that believed every IT person is interchangeable and anyone
can be dropped into any role, regardless of education, experience,
certifications, or interest. e.g a network engineer with multiple Cisco
certifications was expected to be a software developer, and a Linux admin,
and not even allowed to work on Cisco equipment.
I turned in my resignation several months ago.