Response to This is why Business hates IT Recently I had the pleasure, well in this situation if pleasure meant gut wrenching soul crushing, absolutely dumb stuck horror of a read, Why Business hates IT http://veroniquepalmer.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/why-business-hates-it/
The user requested a site overhaul and attached a number of pictures aka mock ups and suggested that SharePoint Designer was sufficient to update the site. The site is hosted on a SharePoint 2010 environment and serves as a SharePoint Internet facing website.
I have passed many exams and have a hand full of certifications that have been awarded to me from a governing body that state I am highly competent in the Microsoft, notably in the SharePoint space. I run my own company that provides SharePoint consulting, which I personally provide. On a daily basis I take queries and requests from business users and provide them with a robust, stable and workable solution. I have done this for more than 5 years and not looking to slow down any time soon. Hence the reason why I thought my input would be worthwhile.
I believe when the business request a solution, they are doing just that, requesting something to be completed, the discussion should then move to IT because they will no longer understand what is actually required to complete the request otherwise they would of done it themselves. If the business user continues to be involved in the IT discussion they will become confused, angry, and in this situation air their dirty laundry to the world in order to gather a force of angry confused business users against IT.
So when I read something by a business user that starts off stating that they hate me because IT did not respond to their vague request adequately because of their own lack of insight as to how the product actually works is very upsetting.
Usually I would just laugh this off, well actually I wouldn’t have, I would of thought shame Business is really a brat and backed IT silently, but I was actually a part of the conversation (I was the one who suggested a DEV environment to the wrong individual as I was only added halfway through the discussion, cause we don’t DEV on LIVE where I come from) that was posted. It was both a shock and an embarrassment to realise how badly behaved and ill-tempered some people can be, what ever happened to diffusing the situation and reiterating a point to get it back on track. A compromise would be great, how about allowing IT to come up with a plan, which was suggested, and let them run with it to improve the idea of Business for a better end result. Instead Business decided that one lined responses to IT queries would suffice.
Business user: “Ok never mind.”
And
Business User: “You people are unbelievable……………………………………………. Epic fail!”
Not to mention that the original request wasn’t simply a contacts page it was actually the entire site. Which was meant to be completed with just hotspots? Why bother using SharePoint if you are going to put pictures and hotspots together. Use Word press and get on with it.
I have am involved on a daily occurrence with business and 9 times out of 10 a pleasant experience, because IT will take the ideas from business, work on them and present it back to them without involving them in the ‘magic’ that goes behind the solution. Business doesn’t care about that goodness we IT care about, they are simply all about the end product. They should however just stop and think every now and again, if IT wasn’t here where would I be? A field picking cotton, a bathroom unclogging a blocked toilet or a human traffic deterrent waving a bright yellow flag and wearing a chevron waist coat? That’s right everything revolves around IT, and don’t ever forget that, treat us well and you will in return be lavished with fast internet connectivity, fancy websites and untold media riches, treat us badly and you will be shunned to unexpected errors, lack of permissions and blue screens of death.
