Surveys tell us that business and IT folks talk past one another all the time, with the resultant blown budgets, failed projects, late projects, ill-fitting solutions, and other bad outcomes.

A neighbor of mine is a graphics artist/layout specialist for 3 newspapers and various magazines, both online and print.  He works in a consolidated graphics company that these publications utilize.

It’s a 24×7 operation.  It’s a sophisticated company, with the latest equipment and computers.  The people working there are no slouches, in terms of their abilities to get pubs ready for press.  But there is one slight remiss.

They didn’t have an IT Department at their disposal.  Oh, they had IT support:  An IT Director.  One… IT Director.  One who was on call 24×7.  Yeah.

The business skimped on IT support in terms of personnel, and thus other ramifications came to bear.  Many readers can probably guess what ultimately came to be.

But first:  The Director made reasonable requests for help over the course of time.  A case was made for an assistant, who would have been a one-person HelpDesk, essentially – but also backup to the Director and vice-versa:  coverage for cases of illness, travel, meetings, periods of high volumes of work, etc.  But the request was denied.  Affordability was an issue.  “Later” was a nice deferment:  “We recognize you’re stretched and we’re going to take this up with ________  [the CEO / the Board / the Steering Committee / the Magic 8-Ball] soon.

The IT Director was too busy providing day-to-day support, and handling various exigencies, and many, many standard and best practices either went out the window, or were never really mounted in the first place.  One of the critical issues became lack of documentation.

What you likely saw coming was total burn-out for this person.  Aside from the midnight, 3 a.m., and other random phone calls, the “typical” day was one of straddling dozens of bases and trying to provide adequate coverage:  Vendors, budget, upgrades, new installations, migrations, desktop support, backoffice support, reports, justifications…

He left. 

And now my neighbor has difficulty doing his job.  A support vendor is onsite, but is struggling with systems and procedures absent documentation and real understanding.  While the vendor figures things out, support is virtually non-existent still.

Perhaps the IT Director didn’t make the case for help strongly enough; perhaps he didn’t articulate things in match to the risks that were accruing.  For their part, the business side of things didn’t take seriously the need to, at the very least, have a backup person in a large facility (there are over 100 personnel at this company) that requires steady, daily, support – to say nothing of the requirement for an IT leader who is able to break free for proper strategic planning, and for meeting with business associates for assessment of requirements and expectations.

In addition to specific meetings between business and IT, for specific projects and issues, they should plan on a quarterly meeting for assessing just where things are, and where business intends (and needs) to go.  That agenda is easily crafted by both over the course of the quarter.

I call this meeting, and its participants, the BIT team (the Business-Implementation Team).  Its structure and culture helps to influence everything the business does in an IT sense between quarterly meetings too.

It’s kind of a handy thing… and business and IT do a lot less talking past one another.

On this day (Oct. 29^th):  In 1682, William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, landed at what is now Chester, PA.

Here on this blog we regularly consider a business-technology weave. 

But we should recognize too that there’s a human-technology weave (well, I guess that’s obvious:  Everything starts, proceeds and ends with humans, after all – at least from any particular human’s perspective!). 

The human-technology weave is, among many things, one with heart pumps, artificial knees, and even implants that dispense medicine at regular intervals… (did you think I was going somewhere else with that?).  We could go on and on…  we influence the brain and mind with meds – and that certainly involves technology.

Human-technology weave?  Sure.  It exists… and… its potential is limitless.  But what of a more integrated personal-technology weave?  What if my smart phone’s content was implanted directly into my head for my mind’s ready access, as a tiny piece of firmware… with some sort of physical tethers into my brain?  How about “dialing” and accessing a friend just by thinking about it? 

Consider this article:  http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2048138,00.html

And then, have a look at this interesting YouTube clip:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Neivqp2K4

Speaking of mortality:  I don’t feel bad about missing out on immortality:  There will still be accidents, natural disaster, terror – the destruction of things; therefore all will still have to die someday. 

Then again… I guess it’s likely that we’ll all be backed up!  Although, I guess further that a backup would represent an independent “consciousness”… unless maybe a DropBox type affair was invoked (if you’re familiar), with live-time updates of a cohesive consciousness from disparate locations…  would that be dispersed residencies for the common-consciousness…?  Or would they be independent…?  Overlapping…?

But as far as backups go – there might yet not be immortality:  There could be simultaneous destruction of live sites and backup sites, and so on:  Perhaps the whole universe would collapse in on itself, and destruct everything within… a backup of yourself would have to be in alternate, or parallel, or some further universe(s)… if there’s a possibility of more than one universe, that is – and assuming we’d find it…

You know, this can get complicated!  I think I have a headache – please don’t back that up. 

NP:  Robin Trower, Caravan to Midnight, Chrysalis LP (for you record collectors:  Gold-embossed box on cover stating, “Demonstration Only”).  Trower’s Hendrix-comparisons were unfortunate – and – I love Dewar’s vocals…

Just for the sake of variety, let’s take a breather from our discussion of content.  We’ll return to it in a day or so, and further the discussion of content management, acceptable use, general security – and related policies.

An interesting concern came to me the other day in a discussion I was having with the owner of an IT startup company.  He has a common concern about turnover.  Now, IT personnel generally are pretty stable folks.  (Hold the jokes ‘till after the presentation, please).  If an organization is creating the right environment and paying fair salaries and wages, things should be relatively stable.  But we have to face something: 

It’s the best, most crucial, people who are at risk.  They’re extremely marketable and it doesn’t take a lot of effort on their part to find employment that looks to be more lucrative. 

If an organization is in a market like DC or NYC, their best people are probably fending off pitches when in quasi-business, more social, environments.  If you, the reader, are one of these marketable people, you can further your organization’s stability by taking your suggestions to the table.  Let’s look at what helps to retain people.  Money is important, but it’s not the only thing effecting retention of people.  Here’s a quick list, in no particular order:

-        Education/training opportunities:  This is important not only in terms of reimbursements, or paying, for training – but in terms of scheduling, and just general support and progression of employees’ abilities and opportunities.  Here’s where business too can affect a more responsible forward edge for the organization – things are rapidly changing, and you don’t want to inadvertently screen your cutting-edge and forward looking employees from the training arena; people want to feel like they’re getting somewhere – and the org needs them to actualize.

-        Flexible schedules:  It’s a new world and younger employees in particular figure that business and access is universal – why not work from home when possible?  Also, if someone proves themselves to be responsible, and wants to work four 10-hour days one week, to effect a 3-day weekend, and there are no other business inhibitors, why not?  Let’s be imaginative. 

-        General work environment:  Is your office attractive?  You don’t have to have expensive furniture and original masters on the wall.  Check your lighting:  The office doesn’t have to have the blast of lumens necessary for a hospital operating room.  Get something a bit soft; and give individual employees a choice in their respective spaces.  Be particularly sensitive to “cube land.”

-        Social environment:  Let’s have fun.  Really.  Both on and off the job – but retain a professional care for positions and necessary measures of respect.

-        Incentive pay/bonuses, base salaries:  Oh well, it turns out that money does matter, after all.  Be competitive.

-        Insurance benefits:  They are what they are.  Again, not a lot of flexibility here – you must be competitive.  But – ensure that HR is doing their job.  They should be exposing all benefits, and have them make the sale:  HR should be enthusiastic about pay and benefits, instilling this upon new employees’ orientations, and maintaining this positivity throughout pay and benefits updates to staff.

-        Employee recognition programs:  Have you seen the commercial where the boss is combining employee recognition events with business?   Hilarious.  The organization has to take time to let employees know that they’re important, valued, and that they’re individuals.

-        Paid time off:  Whatever other ideas are out there, I had a great boss (in all “business” respects) who used to do something that I loved:  the award of spontaneous days off.  He’d say, “Hey, why don’t you pick a day next week and goof off.”  ‘Course, maybe he was just trying to get rid of me…  hey!

-        Retirement programs:   Again, make sure HR makes these sales and that people are fully informed regarding benefits and perks.

‘Tis the season to be jolly – so get out and about at your place of work and tell someone you enjoy working with them.  Whether they’re a co-worker, subordinate, boss, vendor, etc. – let’s maintain the team.

NP:  Richard Thompson, Solo in New York, Hannibal LP.