My very first full-time IT gig was as at the University of Tulsa, as the manager of campus computer labs (75-80% — which was essentially a specialized form of desktop support), followed by general campus desktop support (20-25%), not to mention having to wrangle 36 student workers across 5 computer labs. The day before I […]
One of my roles as a “management consultant who happens to do tech” is to go into organizations and look for ways in which things can be streamlined and make information more accessible. Organizations of all stripes struggle with this, and periodically it’s good to look at things with fresh eyes. Mapping the flow of […]
As what some would call a “serial entrepreneur,” I have a soft spot in my heart for small businesses and those fledglings just leaving the nest. Armed with great ideas or better approaches, it’s an exciting time, and I get to take a hit of some of that new venture vibe. Often I come in […]
The CEO (and CIO, and VP of IT) have resigned. The board president/former CEO has come back from retirement, to quell any potential stockholder revolt. In the last month, stock prices have fallen 30%. A Mid-level IT Operations Director has been thrust into an interim VP of IT role, to stabilize a big, years-overdue project […]
It’s no surprise to say that for most of their 30-year existence, IT departments have not been held in high regard. Organizations grow over time based on perceived need. Every startup or small business I’ve ever known added a bookkeeper of some kind in short order, then grew over time to require more than accounting. […]
Recently I learned that one of my former employers was hit by ransomware, locking out access to a file and SQL server. They are one of a couple of higher education sites in the same state system that’s been hit by attacks over the last year, in a period when higher education domains have been […]
Everything old is new again. In Technology management we’re always pushing that boulder up the hill. At the same time, the hill is changing, our methods of pushing are changing, and our goals once we get to the top also change. The core IT function of protecting the network from intrusion has morphed and changed […]
This last weekend marked my Meyer Lemon’s annual trip into the house for Winter. Since lemons require a long growing season, I always bring it in just before Thanksgiving laden with lemons while silently praying that none fall off while being GENTLY coaxed through the door, where it will stay until February. Then it’ll go […]
Remember the movie “Working Girl”? I’m remembering the scene where Melanie Griffith’s character Tess tells Trask her train of thought that led to putting two very different companies together. TESS: See this — this is from the Wall Street Journal, just your basic article about how you were trying to expand into broadcasting, right…okay, now […]
Remember the Tracy Kidder book, “The Soul of the New Machine“? Required reading in business school from almost the day it shipped, the author embedded with teams at Data General in Massachusetts, in their quest to build a new and better mini-computer (remember those?) in those in-between days between big iron mainframes and the eventual […]