Comment A different Example (Score 1) 892
I spend several hours a day doing basic help desk stuff for my end users... people who pay my salary. Half the time I want to scream "Please put the computer back in the box and send it back to dell, because you are to stupid to own a computer" - But I don't.
Do you know why? Because these people pay my salary, and because when they are asking for my help, I represent the face of my company. If they have a bad experience with me, our revenues will go down. So, I am always courteous, respectful and polite. The result of this is that they are courteous and respectful to me. Strange, yet true.
Later in the day, I have a meeting with one of my software vendors. The software is constantly breaking. The end users are reporting error problems, crashing machines. The accounting software is not working properly - and I can document it. I am told the end users must be hacking us. I point out that no one would hack a site for 2 dollars. I am told it must be script kiddies. I point out that script kiddies would be wreaking havoc, not costing me a few dollars here and there. When we go on to discuss that the software is crashing machines, I am told it's because my customers are stupid. Or that they are imagining it.
At NO point does the software vendor say "we will look into it" nor "yes, we are aware of this bug and we are working on it". Nor am I, at any point - IT Pro that I actually am, afforded ANY credibility during these proceedings (because this would force the vendor to admit that maybe their is a software problem that is thier reponsibilty). As a matter of fact, though my credentials put me a few years ahead of these fella's, I am treated with basic disdain and disrespect at all times.
Finally, when I state the obvious, that I paid 25,000 dollars for the development of the software, that I pay thousands a month to host said software on thier servers, and that I expect the software to work... I am called a "bitch" (not to my face of course... but it's pretty darn clear). So, I must say - I'm sorry for your work enviroment, truely I am. But I think that when IT treats end users like they are stupid, tells lies (IT guys never say "I don't know, let me look into it" - they lie, and then lie again to cover it up), and pretend to be smarter than everyone else they work with... eventually folks are just not gonna much like the IT guys.
Do you know why? Because these people pay my salary, and because when they are asking for my help, I represent the face of my company. If they have a bad experience with me, our revenues will go down. So, I am always courteous, respectful and polite. The result of this is that they are courteous and respectful to me. Strange, yet true.
Later in the day, I have a meeting with one of my software vendors. The software is constantly breaking. The end users are reporting error problems, crashing machines. The accounting software is not working properly - and I can document it. I am told the end users must be hacking us. I point out that no one would hack a site for 2 dollars. I am told it must be script kiddies. I point out that script kiddies would be wreaking havoc, not costing me a few dollars here and there. When we go on to discuss that the software is crashing machines, I am told it's because my customers are stupid. Or that they are imagining it.
At NO point does the software vendor say "we will look into it" nor "yes, we are aware of this bug and we are working on it". Nor am I, at any point - IT Pro that I actually am, afforded ANY credibility during these proceedings (because this would force the vendor to admit that maybe their is a software problem that is thier reponsibilty). As a matter of fact, though my credentials put me a few years ahead of these fella's, I am treated with basic disdain and disrespect at all times.
Finally, when I state the obvious, that I paid 25,000 dollars for the development of the software, that I pay thousands a month to host said software on thier servers, and that I expect the software to work... I am called a "bitch" (not to my face of course... but it's pretty darn clear). So, I must say - I'm sorry for your work enviroment, truely I am. But I think that when IT treats end users like they are stupid, tells lies (IT guys never say "I don't know, let me look into it" - they lie, and then lie again to cover it up), and pretend to be smarter than everyone else they work with... eventually folks are just not gonna much like the IT guys.
