4 ms·
The reason is that the entity (IT department) making the technology decision is optimizing for themselves. They will choose the product that minimizes work for
by zuck 17y ago
The reason is that the entity (IT department) making the technology decision is optimizing for themselves. They will choose the product that minimizes work for them. They are not accountable nor do they care about the user's productivity.
Contrast this with an individual or startup, where the technology decision maker has a vested interested in its usability.
- whatusername 17y agoAnd it also contrasts to the startup that doesn't have the compliance issues etc to deal with that the big company does. (See Paypal ignoring all the banking regulation - figuring they'd get big/bought first)
- jonknee 17y agoIf IT departments wanted to minimize work for themselves they would all outsource and use Google Apps. But then there would be vastly less work to do and as a result a smaller budget (since the money goes to Google instead).
- roc 17y agoI think it's a mistake to specify 'IT department'. Just as IT departments often don't have usability as a primary concern, the corporation itself often doesn't have technical fitness as a concern. To them, almost all technology decisions are dominated by the concern of corporate risk. They want industry-standards, because it keeps cog replacement costs down. They want you to use their gear to minimize data security concerns. They want to shut down youtube, lest they appear to be not enforcing the harassment policy. They force IE6 because they're trying to meet return projections on bad investments from years ago. They provide a standardized environment so they can shuffle cogs more easily. Etc. Even if the average user always chose the best available tool, even if they were security-conscious, studiously making regular backups and vigilantly updating their software - corporate concerns would still regularly trump their desire to have X. Just pick an IT guy and ask him how much say he has in what software he has to use all day.
- blhack 17y agoThis is a bit inflammatory... IT departments are trying to maximize aggregate efficiency across the organization (which includes themselves). While it might marginally increase productivity of office staff if they're allowed to choose whatever mail client they're used to, it is going to require a considerable investment in IT staff to support it. Please keep in mind that an office full of programmers is absolutely not the norm. While programmers and engineers might hate the evil IT department, most offices wouldn't be able to exist without their mean policies.
- dtby 17y agomost offices wouldn't be able to exist without their mean policies. Man, talk about inflammatory. Offices have existed for centuries without mean IT policies. I'm not even sure how to read your comment in such a way that it models ANY reality.
- blhack 17y agoOffices have existed for centuries without mean IT policies. Are you suggesting that we do away with computers in the workplace? Unfortunately, the IT systems that people use in their offices, and the people supporting said systems are compliments to one another.
- smcq 17y agoYou forgot the third goal: the IT department wants to create a lot of work for itself that appears to be useful but doesn't directly increase productivity.