ETERNAL PURGATORY

ETERNAL PURGATORY

By W H Inmon

VENDOR TO TECHNICIAN: I have this new product. It is going to make money for your company. It is super sexy. It is the latest thing. It will improve the life of your corporation. I need for you to look at it and find budget.

TECHNICIAN TO VENDOR: We can’t even listen to you until we clean up the mess that we are in. Our data is in terrible shape. No one can find anything. And if they find anything it is probably incorrect. Come back when we have cleaned up our mess.

This conversation has been used repeatedly and has occurred a thousand times. Once upon a time the IT department was the place to go when you wanted to sell a new advance in technology. No longer.

This conversation has occurred since the early 1970’s – which was a half century ago. And it is still being used today. Vendors have learned that the IT department is to be avoided if they want to make a sale. The IT department is an obstacle to be overcome.

So how did the world end up in the position that it is in today? Is it true that there is a big mess that IT has on its hands?

Like most large problems this problem has many dimensions.

1)????? The IT department is viewed as a cost center, not a profit center. The IT department is not concerned with making money and profit for the corporation. The IT department only spends money. As such any proposition about enhancing the business of the corporation is not in the purview of the IT department. Therefore, when the vendor states that the new product has business value, the IT department just isn’t interested.

2)????? Is it true that the IT department is facing a big mess? A big mess is absolutely what is true for most organizations. But the IT department uses band aids to try cure cancer when it comes to addressing the challenges of the big mess. The IT department does not face the root of the problems that caused the mess in the first place. As such the IT department never really does anything about the big mess. Furthermore, the big mess gets larger over time, not smaller. So if the vendor waits to make a sale for the mess to be cleaned up, the vendor is never going to make a sale. Never.

3)????? Other factors are the changing of business over time. Systems are designed and built for the purpose of addressing business problems. The problem is that over time, business and their challenges constantly change. As a result, the system that was viable and useful yesterday is just another part of the big mess of today. Building a system is like shooting at a moving target. The target is constantly changing. The system built today does not address the business challenges of tomorrow.

4)????? Changing technology is also a factor. Advances in hardware, software and the economics therein entailed mean that the world of technology is in constant upheaval. What worked yesterday does not work tomorrow.

And these factors are just the tip of the iceberg. There are a lot of other factors at work in the ever growing big mess that never gets to be cleaned up.

So what can be done?

a)?????? Remove IT from the job of evaluating technology. This is being done in a de facto manner in any case. Vendors have learned to avoid the IT department if they want to make a sale.

b)????? Turn IT into a dual responsibility role. Make part of IT a profit center and another part of IT a cost center. This is a viable approach but takes wisdom and foresight by management.

c)?????? Start to address the root problems of the big mess rather than try to paste bandages on it. Vendors and consultants RUN breathlessly away from the big mess. Find some vendors and consultants who are not afraid of getting their hands dirty and know how to address the big mess.

d)????? Maintain the status quo. Keep pretending that IT is in a leadership position. And keep suffering the consequences.

Bill Inmon lives in Denver with his wife and his two Scotty dogs – Jeb and Lena. It is the first snow of the year this week. So far 10 inches have come down. And they are expecting another 10 inches today. Jeb and Lena get lost in the snow. All you can see is their tails sticking out of the snow as they walk. They only go outside when they have to do their business. Then they come back in to the warm room.