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Imagine trying to turn around an organization like that. Must be an interesting challenge. The sheer amount of technical debt, legacy systems, dysfunctional te

Imagine trying to turn around an organization like that. Must be an interesting challenge. The sheer amount of technical debt, legacy systems, dysfunctional team processes and culture. Not to mention the sheer motive inertia needed to change anything in that environment. Moving in any direction will have 1000 other things breaking/popping up to steal momentum. A Gordian knot impossible to untangle.

tempnow987 4y ago
I was a hero briefly when I programmed the MFC copier at a govt agency to allow staff to scan to their desktop directly. This was one of those SUPER fancy ones (think 5 year overpriced contract with total cost of $120K) - it had every doc mgmt feature under the sun, but could ONLY be used for copying (no print, no scan no anything). Some update reverted system, and IT was unhappy when staff asked for the feature back. Team asked me to help, I said if IT has said no I dare not. So back they went to their old solution, which was to send someone 2x per day to a local copy shop and FAX at $3/page stuff they needed electronically in the computer, because they had a digital fax service they set up. I kid you not, this is the only in govt type thing. They ban scan to USB / scan to network etc, but then demand stuff be uploaded electronically to some new system - what are folks supposed to do. 90% its left hand right hand stuff. IT security folks don't talk to anyone and lock systems to nth degree (no scanning, no USB). Then someone else NEEDS paper available electronically for some reason (upload to a new system). The more money spent the worse it is because you can't actually talk to anyone. Once its $100M+ staff are just not in room there are so many layers.
TeeMassive 4y ago
> Imagine trying to turn around an organization like that. Must be an interesting challenge. Most good devops book tells you how to do that. You scan for people who have the right skills and who actually care, as opposed to people who are at the other end of the spectrum who think that if it ain't broken don't fix it and "why change it we will have to support this stuff later". Then you go commando and secretly pick projects with low cost and high return that would not normally get the go ahead. People copying Excel sheets full time? Automatate their job away. Full time sysadmin setting up one server a day? Would be a real shame that you have a docker container ready to use when he has an emergency and doesn't have time. Bonus success points if you do things that also help your fellow devs. In a government settings, and in any large organizations, you will need to have upper leadership support otherwise this will always fail and all of your efforts will be undermined and suppressed. Be sure to leave an employee review on your way out and name names to HR.
- hackerfromthefu 4y ago
  The thing about those gov departments is 'many' people are there for secure jobs with low effort and actual work. They actively work against change. So yes upper leadership support is required, but you also sometimes need to pull things out root and branch, at least enough to scare those people into changing their life when they have a psychology of never needing to change again once they built their public service fiefdom.

tempnow987 4y ago

I was a hero briefly when I programmed the MFC copier at a govt agency to allow staff to scan to their desktop directly. This was one of those SUPER fancy ones (think 5 year overpriced contract with total cost of $120K) - it had every doc mgmt feature under the sun, but could ONLY be used for copying (no print, no scan no anything). Some update reverted system, and IT was unhappy when staff asked for the feature back. Team asked me to help, I said if IT has said no I dare not. So back they went to their old solution, which was to send someone 2x per day to a local copy shop and FAX at $3/page stuff they needed electronically in the computer, because they had a digital fax service they set up. I kid you not, this is the only in govt type thing. They ban scan to USB / scan to network etc, but then demand stuff be uploaded electronically to some new system - what are folks supposed to do. 90% its left hand right hand stuff. IT security folks don't talk to anyone and lock systems to nth degree (no scanning, no USB). Then someone else NEEDS paper available electronically for some reason (upload to a new system). The more money spent the worse it is because you can't actually talk to anyone. Once its $100M+ staff are just not in room there are so many layers.

TeeMassive 4y ago

> Imagine trying to turn around an organization like that. Must be an interesting challenge. Most good devops book tells you how to do that. You scan for people who have the right skills and who actually care, as opposed to people who are at the other end of the spectrum who think that if it ain't broken don't fix it and "why change it we will have to support this stuff later". Then you go commando and secretly pick projects with low cost and high return that would not normally get the go ahead. People copying Excel sheets full time? Automatate their job away. Full time sysadmin setting up one server a day? Would be a real shame that you have a docker container ready to use when he has an emergency and doesn't have time. Bonus success points if you do things that also help your fellow devs. In a government settings, and in any large organizations, you will need to have upper leadership support otherwise this will always fail and all of your efforts will be undermined and suppressed. Be sure to leave an employee review on your way out and name names to HR.

hackerfromthefu 4y ago
The thing about those gov departments is 'many' people are there for secure jobs with low effort and actual work. They actively work against change. So yes upper leadership support is required, but you also sometimes need to pull things out root and branch, at least enough to scare those people into changing their life when they have a psychology of never needing to change again once they built their public service fiefdom.