I noticed that some employers do not assist with upgrades for training needs, keeping IT folks up-to-date with the latest-N-greatest, which in turn helps the employer's business. Yet, those same employers will assist with "other" departments with thier training needs!

Over 20 years ago I began in this business out of my curiosity and interest in computers in general, from the days of the old Commodore 64. From that natural curiosity I have grown into a network administrator for a regional hospital. I think that demands of business to do more with less in all departments, but especially in IT has put a large burden on the IT worker. We are 'firemen' responding mostly when needed and then are not appreciated for our efforts. Often our projects are under funded or do not have 'buy-in' from management and other employees. Our area is the first to catch the blame (even when the user doesn't understand CAPS lock or NUM lock..) and it leads to a very stressful existence.

Now, back to your question... I am motivated by the desire to explore technology and make it perform in new ways, assisting in making people's jobs and lives easier. If I was running the company, I would change the focus to ensuring we are doing projects for the right reasons, not just to 'get the latest and greatest technology' which quite often leads to wasted work and resources, rather than focus on the true problem. Technology is not always the answer and is often NOT the problem ;)

When you add to your comment ....fed up with being told they don't understand business when business people don't operate as smart as they could. That many other business leaders forget to look at what other background(s) IT managers/workers may have and just assume the IT people are one trick ponies it further exacerbates the situations. And when it is pointed out that a particular 'wish list' or 'must have' only moves workload from one area in the business to another area with no positive gain for the company as a whole the IT manager becomes the "Mr. Negative" Add these items together with "IT is like the lights, always works when the switch is on and requires no intelligence for the systems to give everyone the right (what they want to see) answer" and you have all the ingredients together with a timer or a lit fuse to determine when and where the anger will be vented.

Too many "business" leaders forget that most senior IT workers not only understand business but have been translating those needs into the output the business uses when the very same "business" leaders couldn't begin to describe for the reports what they needed even when given 3rd grade hints.

Most of us (IT workers/managers) enjoy solving the puzzles and telling the truth. We just don't prefer the same interactions and politicing that business uses. Who wants to walk around with 15 -20 knives in your body at any given time?

IT workers still enjoy whoopee cushions and other electronic equivalents. What happens to "business" leaders? Avarice? Sad.

I got in because I like to know how things work. I stayed because there was always something to fascinate me. BUT...I now work for a small business in a fairly rural area. I make very little money for what I do these days, despite the fact that I am more highly skilled than many of the more highly paid people in my industry, and can only accept it on the basis that I live in a beautiful place. And even then, I resent it greatly. Imagine making less money than your marketing person, and yet the marketing person can't even use Photoshop and put graphics in layers for web presentation!!! Or making far less than mechanics who get constant training and with whom I am an equal when it comes to needed skills (albeit in different fields)! That is my life.

I too am one of those who gets no paid training anymore, and has to keep up on my own. I also am one who gets disrupted for most anything during off hours. I could write a book on what IS and IS NOT considered an emergency by IT people, versus what users consider an emergency!! Believe me, most of their "emergencies" could have waited until I had finished dinner, actually been awake, or had my company leave. I have been called (and held on the phone) while driving down the highway, swimming, entertaining, shopping, visiting relatives in the hospital, sleeping in on a weekend, at the dentist, at the doctor, etc. etc....I don't get paid anything extra for all those interruptions, either.

It is sad to be underappreciated and overused. It causes anger and resentment that don't need to exist. When everyone else gets training, has no trouble scheduling vacation time, and NEVER has to worry about a call on a weekend, and the poor IT person has to train themselves, fight for a day off, and can't even turn over in bed without a cell phone within reach, the anger and resentment get pretty high. Not only that, but too many people think that IT people should be able to fix ANYTHING that plugs in and goes beep. I have been asked to fix copiers, adding machines, and sophisticated phone systems, alongside my normal fare of PCs, networks, routers, switches, websites, et al. I would be highly unlikely to wreak havoc (too many ethics) but it has crossed my mind, and any IT person who says it has never crossed theirs is either very very new to the field, or is lying through their teeth.

The basic difference is this: geeks CAN lie, but only in the same sense that cats can swim. Geeks are very unhappy when not telling the truth.

For suits, fibbing is second nature. Suits understand that the political world is painted in shades of grey and that it is anything but a "logical set of systems" - and most don't do well with complex logic anyway (not that it matters in their world).

So, the nature of an IT worker is honesty and some detachment from reality. Of course people are not all at the extremes; some competent IT folk have a better grasp of politics than others and some suits have a better grasp of logic. But the general *nature* is as I suggest.

I got into it cause computers do exactly what I say. Managers don't and a lot of the managers produced by MBA programs in the last 20 years are clueless beyond P&L. Why is it many managers have better faster computers than the people trying to keep the critical systems going.

I just have a comment about "But, I've also ran in to some who use it as an unfortunate crutch to prove they are simply smarter than everyone in the room, and expect to be left alone to do their 'genius' work." My intentions are to be the free flowing source of information, and that's how it initially starts out. But, if you're too generous with assisting people, they will begin to take advantage of your helpfulness and call you repeatedly to accomplish the same monthly goal because they don't care to learn how to do it themselves. And this ignorance may tend to make you behave like there are more important things that you have to do, because you do!

I have been in the field for 9 years - I enjoy information, mapping it and mostly how creative/diverse an IT career can be.
That said I do agree with many of the comments which point up the disparity between tech user expectations and what IT people really do.
I am intrigued with the article�s arching question tho - which is asking if we IT-people may be predisposed to commit wild acts with technology. Well, you don�t have to be in IT to do that, and I venture that any number of folks that try to put terror in IT may not be Geeks � just freaks. I also wonder if they too are getting paid to pillage.
Such as with the heinously irresponsible - when not illegal - acts perpetrated by the financial community and parts of government. Those who commit less obvious forms of terrorism like fear tactics, malfeasance etc, and in more insidious ways - while a trusting but oft lazy populous just follows blindly.
Frankly, I would trust an IT worker more than the Official Power Gangs that have driven US way down the rabbit hole lately. And Last � I predict they will be calling some IT people to help fix this crisis - and they will not be seen, heard or paid $ like those who mucked it up in the first place. If you ask me, IT may be one of the least scary spaces right about now...

Amen! Amen, to all the comments listed above! Underpaid, overworked, over-looked (when it comes to higher pay), no or non-training budget, no or non-equipment budget, and the inability to over-step the "suit(s)" unless you want to get fired. Those are just a few of the things I've had to deal with as IT. It's no wonder why IT people get frustrated.

My answer has always been to "move-on" when it gets out of control and the appreciation level is no longer there. If the suit(s) think they know it all, then give it all to them. There has always been another rainbow for me to follow. Many time's I've been asked to return as the IT person, but I've always refused. Only because one head-ache was enough for me and if they didn't listen the first time what makes me think they are going to change?

I love working with computer's. I actually started in the Secretarial field and couldn't stand it. I hated every minute of the classes I had to take, especially since we used the old fashioned typewriter's. In order to pass, I had to take a Word Processing class and the minute I discovered that "you can and how to" manipulate a document, I was in love. I've never regreted changing my major especially, when I learned how to Program. Now, I can do a variety things with computers and regardless of what happens in business, I'll always find a way for me to be happy as long as I have a computer.

If I could change anything in the Industry. I'd make all the suit(s) prerequist as an IT person. Maybe then they'll approve the budget and training needed, sometime's necessary, for IT. They would also understand that your time away from the office is supposed to be time away from the office. We shouldn't have to carry the office along side us wherever we go.

I'm lazy (in a sense). So whenever I see something that is just plan inefficient, I want to make it better and easier. If something is done manually that could be done mechanically and would save people time and money, then I say do it. If there is something I am doing that could be automated, I automate it. I am a people oriented technologist. I can talk tech with the techie and layman with the user. I'm the guy the techs come to for help and the user come to for help. I got into this field because I love detail oriented. I love writing and reading. I stayed in this field because I make people happy with the applications I develop. I've been working with computers since I was 16 (almost 30 years ago). I started because my father was in the field and it seemed interesting. I stayed in it because I enjoy doing it. Now I am regretting ever getting involved and will deter my kids from going into IT at all costs.

And here I thought I was all alone in the way the world was working around me!
How true.

The problem is IT needs to execute within the framework of the corporate vision; where many corporations seem to have no vision.

We talk about enterprise architectures...How many people in IT know the corporate vision or have seen a copy of a 3-year executable plan? How many people in mid-management have seen and/or can articulate the 3-year business plan? How can IT have a 3-year plan - and sail steadily towards the horizon when the business doesn't have one - or changes it on a whim?

What I love about IT (Software Development) after 20 years - is the same as "Monty": "I am motivated by the desire to explore technology and make it perform in new ways, assisting in making people's jobs and lives easier.". However, I'd put it in reverse order - People come first.

I have run into some sociopaths who work in IT at the various organizations I have been in my career. These guys are generally tapped for middle management positions in the companies because they have much in common with the millionaire sociopath CEO s who relate with them so well.

As for the rest of us, just give us a project to work on with reasonable time lines and keep us away from the company politics that dominate and destroy modern corporations.

I've been in IT for 40 years and I'm not sure that we are all that different from everyone else. Most of my career has been in Fortune 500 companies where top management used and abused everyone while collecting huge bonuses. This is a trend that has gotten much worse in the last 15 years. The big tip off came when they eliminated the Personnel Department (you know the group that dealt with people) and replaced it with Human Resources (the department that deals with office equipment that wants to go home at night). IT people are not the only ones who are overworked or on call 24x7. Having said all that we do impact the organization as a whole, without us (or when we screw up) things grind to a halt pretty quickly. That does increase pressure. Short sighted management sees us as a great place to cut costs because we made a decent salary, because training is an expense they'd rather not bear, and because they think they can ship the work overseas and save a buck. I still like the work, I like solving problems, I like helping people but now I do it working for local government instead of a corporation. I don't earn as much but I'm happy. When it comes to corporate America I have dropped out.

A very funny article

There are a number of factors here. In broad stereotyping, the people who tend to excel in technology fields tend to be very analytical, and have a strong desire to understand the causal relationships of systems (not just computers!) Whether they achieved formal CS degrees or not, they likely have a high level of education and / or be fairly bright. Now place those types of individuals in the current de facto corporate environment.

Whose jobs are being outsourced to un(der)-trained 3rd world country resources? Not marketing� Not management� not product management...sure as heck not sales�but English speaking engineers. A skeleton crew is left to �help� the un(der) educated (read �Cheap�) and likely offshore resources. Those remaining are then held accountable for the poor performance of the cheap resources; while being told how grateful they should be merely to have jobs by people (management) who don�t understand ANY of what they do for a living; and assume that all resources are equivalent; regardless of education, skill set, experience, etc.

Who would create such an unwise dynamic? Well, let�s look at management. It�s not just in computers; but everywhere (reading about the collapse of the US banking system anyone?) � Senior management operates under a scorched earth policy. It does not matter what poor long term decisions they make, because they will not have to deal with the consequences. Their bonuses are tied to low operating costs. Why take a long view when the short view means you make more cash?

This artificially created focus on the next 30,60, 90 days is what predicates the move offshore, drives poor lending practice, drives understaffed and overscoped projects, and ultimately drives low compensation for those �below the line� � which defines all of us folks from middle management on down. (You know � those �human resources� that don�t get the golden parachutes and are reliant on the company�s survival for a pay check.)

Now, what options are left for those technical resources? They will be the ones to take the blame for any failures (after all, they can�t exactly tell the Board or Customers what�s going on, they aren�t �important� enough.) They aren�t allowed to staff up with competent (read �expensive�) staff; they aren�t allowed to re-define the projects to a place where success is even an option, because that means management wouldn�t be able to just �yes� everyone to death. Ultimately, they can�t take long term view of how to solve things, because no one is interested in that.

This leads back to the original personality value of recognition of causal relationships. Watching business (and now governments), it appears that the only way management as a group learns is by huge, painful and public failure. So� now it�s a matter of whether to wait for that inevitable failure (because short sightedness will ALWAYS cause one); or precipitate it while telling people that�s what you�re doing. I personally vote for waiting for the failure (why make even MORE work for yourself since no matter how the failure happens YOU will be doing the cleanup); but I can easily see how a less patient person could vote for �make the problem happen sooner so the clean up can start sooner�.

In an earlier post, someone said that IT folks are uncomfortable with lying and fudging the truth, unlike the vermin that infest the boardroom. The sale reptiles are worse, in that they only think about the commission and leave the poor IT guy with the responsibility to part the seas and turn water to wine.

Ultimately, it's the offshoring and outsourcing that is the final straw. It really reveals what management considers IT people to be - Annoying, troublesome pieces of office equipment that can easily be replaced by some peon in Madras.

After watching an off-shoring chainsaw massacre, and getting out safely, I derive great satisfaction in hearing about their disastrous outages and the millions they are losing in revenue. Perhaps there is just a little divine justice...

I second all the prior posts. I came to IT from research and statistics because many of the cutting edge techniques required applying data structures and algorithms that shrinked wrapped ("COTS") programs either could not yet do, or required languages like Java/J2EE to integrate w/ web services and/or databases. I loved the intellectual challenge of exploring new worlds in research. Now the suits could not care less for cutting edge stats and models. "Uhh... duhh.. make them purdy graphs and sum them widgets. That's all we need..." they say. Data mining, yeah right.

Now much of IT and computer science is outsourced and my pay sucks currently (when adjusted for an hourly wage, I make less than a janitor). Long hours, bottom rung junk equipment-- I actually had to make my own computer to have anything up to date, and ODOT (Own Dime; Own Time... or 0 period!) training. With lots of job insecurity due to aggressive outsourcing to IT workers who are easily 20+ years behind, but get paid 12 - 20K/yr which is actually upper middle class in a 3rd world country, IT is dead in the USA. And science and engineering are on life support in a coma.

The "flat earther" suits don't care. However, since we have lost (or are rapidly losing) our edge in science, engineering, medical/health sciences -- soon due to loss of regenerative medicine and biotech, and space science due to ceding this knowledge and skill to China, what exactly do we plan to "trade" with the rest of the world?

All paths point to "we're massively screwed," and likely to stay that way. The future looks cooked. Glad I don't have kids!! Sorry parents, but you get to explain why you are handing this mess to your children. Maybe some Horatio Alger myths and a few hosannas might work. Good luck.

I like what I am seeing in these comments before my own. I started with Commodore in West Chester Pa back in 1986 or so, and have seen the birth of the great modern home computer and the corporate business network. Those who do what we do are the dreamers and visionaries that live in ones and zeroes but dream in surround sound hi def. Our makeup varies greatly as some are half in this arena and some are full on bitheads. There is a saying that may be appropriate to our calling:
.
We the Willing
Led by the Unknowing
Are doing the Impossible
For the Ungrateful.

We have done So Much
With So Little
For So Long
We are now Qualified
To do Anything
With Nothing.

Business sees themsleves as people processors. They play us and run us just as long as we serve their purpose and do not consume very much of their resources. If we dare escape those confines and ask for more resources or the ability to better ourselves at their expense, we are immediately the enemy and the sand starts through the hourglass. We, the digital janitors, as they see us, sweep up all the problems they cause from a willful lack of understanding and the real perception that if they actually use a computer they are somehow tarnishing their self image of being a better class of person by virtue of how they are paid and treated. The sick thing is, that having been privy to corporate executives speaking freely away from their offices and thinking they are among like minded individuals, fervently degrade the rest of the working world in such terms that decorum prevents listing them here. These same people feel they are so far above the rest of us that lying about how they feel is justified as preserving the illusion that IT people are valued or even people. Make no mistake, they feel we are cattle and they are the wealthy ranchowners.
If you have worked for a pharmaceutical company that will remain nameless, and they decide your time is up, for no reason, they print a poster similar to a wanted poster with your name and face and hang it around the building on Monday mornings, cancel your access to the bulding and do not tell you that they have cut you off. You just show up and find it out for yourself. It is to humiliate and degrade the outsiders, and terrify the in house inmates so they never get out of line.
In the IT world, the longer you are in the more you have to forget as opposed to learn. Like a sponge, none of us has the same sponge we had even a few years ago, because it can no longer absorbe and release. Nor are we able to keep laying out certification money for things we have been doing for years. And be ware of the change in the guards at the top! Then you will have to know new, meaningless buzzwords they invent to separate themselves from all predecessors so as to be seen to be in motion and making valuable changes. Of course any lower downs will tote out the braodsword and cut away a few people for the same effect and to collect up a 20% of all cutbacks and savings they can make. This is how the formerly robust IT departments have those of us remaining taking all these calls at all hours and fixing the copiers, toilets, heating systems, operating systems we have never even heard of and the like. Condensing down 10 jobs to three and far overloading those remaining. They actually Do have thier planning meetings, under various names, to discover the level of pain that an employee will sustain before leaving or taking any other action that company does not want.
What needs to happen is the IT community needs to establish their own union with it's own rules unlike any others ever made, and get some people on capital hill to get OUR way with the lawmakers.
Outlaw outsourcing by any other name, Force Wallstreet to keep out of business except for quarterly reporting, and grant all IT people a share in the budgetmaking of any company including continuing education and certification requirements. Pay for this with the open reporting and approval of all executive hirings including pay and benefits by the company employee membership. They should get nothing more than the newest employee gets. The savings here could pay for quite a lot of spending by companies. Just like in politics, the very LAST people you want running things are the very first people who show up with their hand out and can not be understood clearly and concisely by everyone in the room. To wrap up and be fair, there are a very few standouts in management that buck this harsh depiction of modern corporate America, but I can't remember any off hand.

It is said that America is sorely lacking for top notch IT people and so corporate america brought them in. The truth of the matter is that we have all run for the hills away from it into anything nearby that lets us keep the gains we have made and maintain our standard of living. See when Wallstreet squeezes them for a penny more each day, they turn on us. They have written themselves a guaranteed payment plan no matter what, (See Leaman Brothers executive payoffs just before they bellied up and how pissed off barclays folks are..) America is chock full of great and talented IT people who do not wish to work for comparative starvation wages, or live 10 people to a house to make the wage cutbacks work.

I'm sure they would call me disgruntled. so keep in mind the rest of you who do not get this lable are currently automatically just plain "Gruntled".
You stay in this catagory until they "Dis" you. Sort of like in Hockey, the guy that threw the first punch rarely gets the penalty, only those who react badly to the surprise application of direct immediate, painful force are ejected or put in the penalty box to consider their bad attitude.
And of course the ref, or labor relations mediator, saw nothing.

Just my take, but there I go thinking again.

That is all.

There will always be good IT jobs in the future. Just keep in mind the overpaid underworked management team will eventually be outsourced and the jobs will come back to the USA. The reverse outsourcing will take place and the middle eastern management team will outsource the jobs back to the USA when the outsourced workers unionize.

In fact, if you go back about 10 years or so then from countries like India it was mostly reverse outsourcing and very little offshore outsourcing from US to India.

For the record India or other countries reverse outsource jobs to US companies or individuals. Of course, this is not as strong a trend as offshore outsourcing but the fact is that it is there and has been for a very long time. In fact, if you go back about 10 years or so then from countries like India it was mostly reverse outsourcing and very little offshore outsourcing from US to India. Even today areas like Management Consulting, Marketing and Management Guru (Tom Peters, Philip Kotler, Michael Porter, Stephen Covey etc. ) trainings and seminars see a lot of reverse outsourcing. Similar in creative areas like design, architecture, very large scale project contracts or project management the projects typically go to US firms or in some cases European firms. Take areas like Film-making technology etc. and again you will see reverse outsourcing.

In fact, we at Inkorus ourselves need to work with US organizations and individuals in several areas to carry out our offshore application development and offshore software development services. And this trend was very very strong about 10 years back and was larger as you go back in time. Back then even engineering and software development kind of activities were outsourced to US firms. That was the time when the Indians did not get work in their own country and the extremely hard-to-get dollars were paid by Indian companies to US firms. The tide keeps turning and it could happen more and more again.

Realistically, it is not expected that it will happen for simple software development work. But definitely the smart ones of the US will always have enough outsourcing happening towards them in the near future. Some immediate opportunities come to my mind for top US experienced and expert brains in the following areas: Product Management Software Product Marketing R&D Marketing Strategy Developing New Technology Platforms Strategic Alliances Mergers & Acquisitions Project Management Client Relationships Business Development.

I started computers 30 years ago when COBOL and RPGII was the rage and assembler language was king. I used to say - "give me 6 months and the manual and I will have it turning handsprings if it is capable of doing so". I still believe that. I am from the "Silent Running" with Bruce Dern group that says that we just want to see what they are able to do.

Why IT? Natural place to go. Keep 600 MhZ computers running Win 98 still in operation cuz the boss doesn't see a reason to change out? When the fastest thing in the room is the coffee pot. Yeah, that's what we do.

Not top dollars, not the "great job, son, you kept it working" cuz they don't even know that it tried to fail.

Seamless integration of technology with business that you may know as well as the CEO, but it doesn't matter, that's not what they pay you for. Making duonumonic circuitry from bear skins and stone tools. That's IT.

I am new to working in the IT field within the last year. I have been very fortunate to find a employer that took my basic knowledge and added a 7 week paid training program onto it, so even though it may be hard to find if you have the patients you will come across that type of employer that is willing to look at it's employees as an investment and will prep you for the proper certifications and any other knowledge you may need to be an asset to the company.
You would think that would be the only way it should be done, right?

What drew me to the IT field in the first place was the ability to be on the cutting edge of technology and information and having a drive to know what the components were that made the corporate machine run, And the fact that if you are good at what you do you stand to make some pretty good coin.

What made me get into IT in the first place? Having a naturally analytical mind, curious nature, and wanting to help people.

The analytical aspect of technology drew me to the industry early; application development to be exact. I was hooked.

My curiosity drove me to understand the hardware on which I was writing applications, the network, the databases that were being written to and read from, and the business people who were using the software and information and why.

My desire to improve the state and status quo of things led me to design and develop reusable modules and components that could be easily altered (or plug & play) versus rewriting a whole application. I was in a small shop at the time and probably it was necessary to do these things (to make changes faster and easier), but it felt natural to me rather than a necessity.

Why stop there? If people couldn't use the applications then I was not getting pay back, financially or emotionally. Why build something if people don't use it, don't know how to use it or don't like it? So I began training the business users and naturally began talking with them about what they do and why they do it. What they liked and didn't like. That led me to make suggestions that would improve their interaction with information and technology.

Having knowledge of the business and its people resulted in me designing better applications; applications that people liked using and that helped them be successful at what they do. And it helped bring people and IT closer together.

As my career progressed I moved away from details of designing and developing into an area I call user research. I research the business and discover ways to expand capabilities with both information and technology. And I brainstorm possibilities with other visionaries on the team and apply the business knowledge gained; possibilities that can help the business do better, people be more successful, increase responsiveness in IT, and provide sustainability for the future. This progression of my career suits me better than handling personnel matters and project schedules, although I've done that too.

Others on the team do design and development these days, however I miss it terribly. The brainstorming is as close as I get to building products these days. The interaction with end-users allows me to see the end result and help drive adoption of new software. In a way this both starts the loop (discover what to build) and closes the loop (see how what is built is helping people); showing me the results of my decisions and hard work (and the team's) from which I and the team can learn.

I remain motivated in IT because of wanting to help people and help the business. Technology can be both a burden and a help, and I want to make sure it's helping people. The industry today is experiencing both the pros and cons of generation gaps, plus software and the use of information are becoming more of an asset & necessity to organizations than ever before. Blending the pros of both generations is the way (I think) to address technology and development in today's world. That takes both understanding and creativity in nearly every function.

Financial rewards have been sufficient and kept pace with the market. If I wasn't being paid market value or needed more to live on I would have found other work or another place to work. Financial rewards are not the only reason I'm in this field, but it is one of the key factors. I believe a collection of rewards is the attraction for me: financial, emotional (helping people), always learning something (analytical and curious) and a creative outlet.

I have met only a few IT professionals today that seem curious and want to help people for the sake of helping them. Typically I see technology pushed for the sake of technology, attempts to impress others with technology and emphasis being placed on cool gadgets. I would like to see today's IT professionals do more of two things: talk with the business to understand them (impress people with understanding and products they can use), and secondly, to understand the array of components that go into a final and successful product; it's never just one thing.

Overall I think it's about understanding and tying it all together. I guess you can say that's where the creative force is at work.

Thanks for the opportunity to think about this and remember why I got into this field in the first place.

The typical IT worker is a perfectionist. They know how things _should_ be done and therefore it irks them when they can't do it that way. Whether it is illogical business rules, a shortsighted viewpoint, or budgetary limitations, the IT worker wants to build something the _right_ way and can get frustrated when they are told not to without a good reason.

We're also the unheralded. No one comes to tell us we did a good job at something, only to complain about something they don't think is working the way it should.

So do yourself and your IT people a favor - tell them they are doing a good job every now and then, and make sure they know the reasons why they can't build something the way they want to.

I tend to believe what Larry Wall said "The three great virtues of programmers are Laziness, Impatience and Hubris." also apply to some degree to IT people. I don't even mind deploying patches at 2:00 in the morning or getting network alarms on my Blackberry during a dinner date, but at least this IT person prefers doing the work rather than sitting in endless meetings talking about what we are going to do.

An IT worker is somebody that pays a lot of taxes to his government while his government tries to replace him with foreign workers. He will bail out wall street while the banks will outsource his work.

Before you pull the lever for Democrat or Republican ask them what is the role of the IT worker?

Fannie and Freddie have more h 1 B visa
workers, than US citizens along with many other US agencies, this is a disgrace

Why aren't you IT workers jamming the phone lines?

Why pay a bailout for non citizens
Americans must be first in any Bailout
its yourmoney and your childrens money

I am in the middle of my 22nd year as a technical person. I am an electronics engineer that discovered programming in the pursuit of my hardware degree and switched horses... I still dabble with electronic hardware projects when I am bored.

Before the whole electronics engineer thing, I was a farm boy that grew up to open an automotive paint and body shop at 18 years of age. Due to some medical issues with lead and various chemicals in the body shop, I was forced to close a very good and lively business. I decided on electronics because all I had ever done was "fix broken things" - engines, transmissions, sheet metal. I decided that there would always be electronics around and in the mid '80's went back to school.

I have been there and done that with PC's. Assembler, C, DOS, Xenix, Unix, Windows, Dbase and 20 variants, VB and .NET, networking and even some stepper motor controls with VB 6 and Visual FoxPro 5... Yep, it's been a long and lucrative ride.

But, the bottom line is that my work world sucks ( I work for a regional bank with around 13,000 employees - one of the smallest companies that I have worked for or contracted to in my career ). Users still don't understand that telling me the application gave them an error message is enough information for me to figure out where a program "locked up", "blew up" or "went crazy". Nope, when I ask for the 97th time if they printed the error message, they act like I want them to make gold from lead.

Add to that the frustration that those of us in IT know that it is not 1970.

I recently attended a user conference many miles from home. I returned to my workplace and dutifully entered the numbers from the receipts so thoughtfully provided by the Hotel, Airline, Rental car company, a host of restaurants and the parking authority where I parked my chariot for the duration of my trip into an Excel workbook. A very fancy Excel workbook ist is! It has eight pages, thousands of lines of macros, formulas and VBScript embedded in it and does a masterfull job of ensuring that everything is in order before I can PRINT it! PRINT it? Yep! I PRINTED it! That's because both I and my manager had to smear ink on the paper, to show that we really meant what the PRINTED paper said!

I then taped all of the above mentioned taped together paperwork to 8.5 x 11 inch paper and carried that stack of paper to a copier. Not just any copier! This baby is a wonder of technical innovation and capability! This creation of innovation will print, copy, collate, staple, bind and print in thousands of colors!

It also has a really great additional feature. It will actually create a .pdf and can email that .pdf to any group or user in the company or any email address in the world! What a marvel of technology that is!

Too bad that I only needed it to make copies! After I got my hands on the holy grail of accounting - copies of receipts, I approached my Manager. He signed the requisite line and dated it on the signature page, as did I. I then took the whole mess back to the wonder of technical innovation and capability and printed a copy of the signature page.

I then ( keeping all of the copies ) dropped the whole PRINTED mess of originals into a locked bin. This sacred bin is opened several times a day by a very sweet Lady that works about 80 feet ( three Cube rows ) from me. Her first task is to manually enter all of the information that I had previously keyed into a $10,000.00 spreadsheet into an accounting application, and then, she SCANS to .PDF the papers that I provided her and send them to accounting...

For Christmas, I think I will buy the management team of the IT organization I work for some QUILL PENS, INK WELLS and POWDERED WIGS!

You wonder why IT are disgusted by lines of business? I am disgusted by my own management and they are 20 years ahead of the LOB in technology savvy!

Regards,

A tech guy who is surrounded by Luddites!