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When Employees Use Software That IT Hasn’t Approved

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Re: When Employees Use Software That IT Hasn’t Approved

#261

Post by maxxxxx »

extra88 wrote: post #162
repolfx wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you? Why can't you let developers admin their own network? At least some of them will know how to do the bulk of the work and a lot of the typical admin needed for Windows machines won't be that important for them (how often do they need to print something and how many of them would be unable to handle printer drivers themselves)? It doesn't introduce that many positives for lots of admin overhead For the IT depar…

> Why can't you let developers admin their own network? Being a good software developer doesn't mean you're a good network administrator or good at desktop support. And even if you are, a developer is paid more so it's a poor use of their time. I'm all for devs having admin access on their own machines, there are too many instances where it's needed, and reasonable exemptions from default policies when they conflict…

“Being a good software developer doesn't mean you're a good network administrator or good at desktop support.”

Working in IT doesn't mean you're a good network administrator or good at desktop support either :)

Re: When Employees Use Software That IT Hasn’t Approved

#262

Post by DEADBEEFC0FFEE »

ownagefool wrote: post #199
snowwrestler wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We've got a Salesforce implementation going at the nonprofit where I work. While there was some debate about which big CRM we'd buy, the need to consolidate was blindingly obvious. Why? Because our organization has been quite forward thinking about allowing managers and executives to source the technology they think they to succeed. As this article advocates for, IT was largely consultative rather than dictatorial, a…

Your problem statement does make it sound like you need a CRM, but I do wonder why is has to be a big CRM with a big consultancy, and why IT aren't delivering it? Who's going to run the thing afterwards? Will the bigdogs deliver something that you can maintain, or is that generally against their own interests? Finally, who's gonna secure all this customer data? Are they taking that on as part of their remit? They rar…

I expect the significant discounts offered to NFPs has some bearing on this decision.

Having been involved in IT management of NFPs, the low price is a significant draw, and the total lack of internal skills is rarely able to counter this.

If you don't have some sort of architecture function, technical risk management, application management, and data management these projects simply won't deliver value.

Re: When Employees Use Software That IT Hasn’t Approved

#263

Post by jmspring »

This brings back a memory. The only time I was fired "for cause". Summer after my freshman year at college, I was temping and got an assignment doing real estate purchase comps with a company in the East Bay. At the time, there were laser printers, but often printing sucked up CPU time and let's just say multitasking was still not a widespread thing.

I found myself tired of sitting around. I found a TSR / print spooler that would use RAM and offload the process of printing. This allowed me to keep working. My productivity (as a temp) was higher than many others including the person I was "reporting to" at the company.

They found the print spooler, labeled it "unapproved software", and I was walked out the door.

The funny thing is, a friend at the time (and I didn't realize it) was higher up in the management. He reached out to me on a multi-line BBS that was popular in the area and offered me a full time job a few days later. I was in school and obviously declined.

Working the rest of the summer for a Chemical Engineer in Martinez/Benecia ended up being incredibly more interesting. So it was a net win.

Re: When Employees Use Software That IT Hasn’t Approved

#264

Post by ClassyJacket »

esoterica wrote: post #122
beart wrote: post #57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One example off the top of my head: It used to be (may still be) the case that you needed admin rights to install and run the Windows Subsystem for Linux. Sure, you might not need this to do your job, but IT is not really in a position to decide that. It could be that WSL greatly increases your productivity.

You can ask IT to install it for you. You don’t need to install it yourself.

Hahahaha, I do this job (the IT software installer), and no dev should be without admin rights.

It's not practical to sit around for a week or more while you wait for each piece of software to install. No dev will ever get any work done.

Re: When Employees Use Software That IT Hasn’t Approved

#265

Post by m463 »

maxxxxx wrote: post #22

This is exactly extremely common. In my company there is this constant battle about the devs having admin rights on their machines. We need admin rights to do our job. We have had dozens of meetings explaining the situation but IT can’t come up with a solution so the devs go around security because they have no alternative if they want to finish their work . Same with Dropbox. They block it but we have suppliers who…

> In my company there is this constant battle about the devs having admin rights on their machines.

One company I worked for had two lans. The admin lan and the engineering lan. Your admin machine would always work. The eng lan could go to hell, and it/management wouldn't know/care.

I think it worked well. It was kind of like having the common areas of the house neat and tidy, but giving the kids creative control over their rooms (and being able to close the doors when things got out of hand or guests came over).

Re: When Employees Use Software That IT Hasn’t Approved

#266

Post by noobiemcfoob »

mywittyname wrote: post #211
user5994461 wrote: post #183

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you stay for years in a company like that? It's so dysfunctional and toxic.

Judging by the statement that he worked with some high-level EE/CS/ME people, I assume the actual job was pretty interesting or cutting edge.

No job is interesting enough that I would tolerate targeting and succeeding in firing a productive employee for internal politics. Doubly so if that behavior is coming from a department nominally in a support role. That's a dog to be put down.

Re: When Employees Use Software That IT Hasn’t Approved

#267

Post by nitwit005 »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #224
protomyth wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Developer data can still be confidential/sensitive Yes, there are confidential data, but it shouldn't be any real customer data. Right?!? Frankly, given best practices from professional developers, stuff like cryptolockers just aren't an issue (blank the machines). Developers need admin, so building a network for them is actually a lot easier.

> Yes, there are confidential data, but it shouldn't be any real customer data. Right?!? But it might be. Whenever you're doing software other than for purely internal use, you have a customer that gives you sensitive data which devs absolutely need access to - like requirements for the software you're building!

If you're handing customer data to the developers, it's basically already leaked. Most companies limit who can examine things and get customer sign off first.

Re: When Employees Use Software That IT Hasn’t Approved

#268

Post by yellowapple »

deanCommie wrote: post #203
alexhutcheson wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd probably really appreciate this comedy sketch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKorP55Aqvg

Clients don't know what they want and don't know how to describe what they do want. That doesn't mean they're wrong. Actual experts get to the root of what they need, and find ways to solve the requirements, even when they seem impossible. Mandatory response viewing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7MIJP90biM

> That doesn't mean they're wrong.

Perhaps not, but it does make it substantially more difficult to be right.

Re: When Employees Use Software That IT Hasn’t Approved

#270

Post by DataWorker »

alecco wrote: post #174
noir_lord wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's like they get pet projects in their head from reading an article in a magazine and get locked into it. It's not like that, it's often exactly that. I'm extremely fortunate in that while my boss sets the goals he never specifies how they should be achieved. That means I get to implement them as we need them. I'll never underestimate the value of smart management :).

>> It's like they get pet projects in their head from reading an article in a magazine and get locked into it. >It's not like that, it's often exactly that. And it usually is sold also from within from know-it-all primadonnas who want to climb the ladder. Or at least put something "spectacular" on their CV.

Or they just think “Tableau, Salesforce, data lakes, ERP, identity management, and "cloud" infrastructure each seem like useful tools if implemented smartly.”
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