Current Events > It's no wonder lots of people hate IT people

(+) Yeah! (+)

A lot of them have no soft skills and they needlessly analyze and go into greater depths than they need to-to resolve the issue. For being technical problem solvers, I dunno why being practical is such a lost logic. And I say this as a SYS-Admin. I like to resolve an issue as fast as I can and keep operations/production moving at all times. You only get into the nitty gritty details when you have to.

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@nothanks1

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Deeper analysis can help avoid a more widespread problem down the road.

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I'm fine if I get to talk to an IT guy face to face, but when they are remote, it's a huge pain in the ass because they don't have all the context and asks a lot of irrelevant questions.

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we finally got good IT people at my office who actually see themselves as service to the operational departments and it's quite nice

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CableZL posted...

Deeper analysis can help avoid a more widespread problem down the road.

Not if it's a trivial issue. For example, a shared network folder keeps randomly closing for a user. One of my Help Desk guy is wasting time going into server event logs, identifying what prompts she's taking to cause the issue. I told him there are bigger fishes to fry and the user can deal with re-opening his folder if it closes up on him.

The Trent posted...

we finally got good IT people at my office who actually see themselves as service to the operational departments and it's quite nice

The IT Department can save the company a lot of money but people need to remember that it's the Operations/Production Team that brings in the money. IT people keep thinking they're a development team. They're not in most cases.

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Not sure how accurate this depiction of things is.

I get the sense that often interactions between nontechnical people and technical people more often take the form where the nontechnical person sees a goal, but doesn't see all the steps and hurdles to get to the goal.

"It's simple, I just want to do X"

I also use technical vs nontechnical because it goes beyond IT. Seen this type of interaction between methodologists/basic scientists and applied scientists all the time.

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Veggeta X posted...

Not if it's a trivial issue. For example, a shared network folder keeps randomly closing for a user. One of my Help Desk guy is wasting time going into server event logs, identifying what prompts she's taking to cause the issue. I told him there are bigger fishes to fry and the user can deal with re-opening his folder if it closes up on him.

• That one user could be the only one actually reporting the problem while other users just deal with it
• A shared network folder repeatedly closing could be a sign of a larger network issue

It's all fun and games until it happens to a C-level executive and then you have to devote all of your time fixing it right then and there, lol

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Only throw technical information when the person is being annoying

COVxy posted...

Not sure how accurate this depiction of things is.

I get the sense that often interactions between nontechnical people and technical people more often take the form where the nontechnical person sees a goal, but doesn't see all the steps and hurdles to get to the goal.

"It's simple, I just want to do X"

I also use technical vs nontechnical because it goes beyond IT. Seen this type of interaction between methodologists/basic scientists and applied scientists all the time.

That's where the soft skills kick in. You need to properly communicate things to the user without making them feel stupid using a ton of technical terms but at the same time don't treat them like a baby by using incredibly dumbed-down words.

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Veggeta X posted...

The IT Department can save the company a lot of money but people need to remember that it's the Operations/Production Team that brings in the money. IT people keep thinking they're a development team. They're not in most cases.

IT is a support role and every organization should define it as such
support roles can all offer savings, but they still support the part of the company that actually brings in revenue

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CableZL posted...

* That one user could be the only one actually reporting the problem while other users just deal with it
* A shared network folder repeatedly closing could be a sign of a larger network issue

It's all fun and games until it happens to a C-level executive and then you have to devote all of your time fixing it right then and there, lol

Depends on the user too which in this case should be ignored for the most part. And we'll restart the server hosting the shared folder in the evening as a start to fix the issue.

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Am I literally the only sysadmin in the world who gets to say no to C levels?

The Trent posted...

IT is a support role and every organization should define it as such
support roles can all offer savings, but they still support the part of the company that actually brings in revenue

Yeah. One of the most annoying things about working in IT, imo, is companies that only view IT as a cost center and not an organization that helps keep operations running so that they can make more money.

At my last job, we had about 15 people in IT supporting about 330 employees at 2 locations. The company started exploding in size over the next few years and we ended up with 12 people supporting over 1000 employees at 12 locations. It was insane how backlogged we were, but the company didn't want to spend more money on IT staff or IT equipment needs.

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nothanks1 posted...

Am I literally the only sysadmin in the world who gets to say no to C levels?

I say no and educate executives all the time.

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Veggeta X posted...

I say no and educate executives all the time.

But do you get to tell the Principal that hell have to wait on the new printer to be installed because youre busy teaching the new kids how to use snail and itll be sometime next week when youll have time and he can use the staff room printer for the next few days and have him thank you?

nothanks1 posted...

But do you get to tell the Principal that hell have to wait on the new printer to be installed because youre busy teaching the new kids how to use snail and itll be sometime next week when youll have time and he can use the staff room printer for the next few days and have him thank you?

wow such power

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nothanks1 posted...

But do you get to tell the Principal that hell have to wait on the new printer to be installed because youre busy teaching the new kids how to use snail and itll be sometime next week when youll have time and he can use the staff room printer for the next few days and have him thank you?

i know i'm doing the whole being nice and not insulting people thing, but this is the most pathetic post i've ever read on this website aside from the skye reynolds boobs meltdown

The Trent posted...

wow such power

He just trusts Ill put the students above all else tbh
Everyone seems intimidated by him for some reason

Hippocrates posted...

i know i'm doing the whole being nice and not insulting people thing, but this is the most pathetic post i've ever read on this website aside from the skye reynolds boobs meltdown

Did the sarcasm go over your head or below your neck

nothanks1 posted...

But do you get to tell the Principal that hell have to wait on the new printer to be installed because youre busy teaching the new kids how to use snail and itll be sometime next week when youll have time and he can use the staff room printer for the next few days and have him thank you?

Nope. But I would if I had to. Things like that takes time.

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nothanks1 posted...

Did the sarcasm go over your head or below your neck

there is nothing you can do to convince me that the content of that post isnt actually important to you

Veggeta X posted...

Nope. But I would if I had to. Things like that takes time.

The point Im making is you need to teach the stupid people above you and below you to obey

https://imgur.com/gallery/iJD8f#I6wNrca

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nothanks1 posted...

The point Im making is you need to teach the stupid people above you and below you to obey

you can spell fascist without IT

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The Trent posted...

you can spell fascist without IT

If the people dont obey you then you light as well get used to changing lightbulbs

IT people really floats a lot!

ya priority should be fixing the problem then dig into the root cause, especially if sla shit is in the mix.


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Manipulating my users isn't the problem. The problem is other IT people are way too analytical when it's not their job to be. Finding the root cause is good when you have time and can prove it's worth investing.

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As an entry level tech, I agree with your idea that problems can sometimes be overthought. However, I and my coworker, responsible for 6 buildings worth of tech, both take your approach of solve the problem, think about the deeper issues after functionality is restored, and it saves a lot of time. I'll go to bed with the issue of "How is this happening??" and solve it in my sleep or randomly at breakfast the next day most of the time.

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Veggeta X posted...

Manipulating my users isn't the problem. The problem is other IT people are way too analytical when it's not their job to be. Finding the root cause is good when you have time and can prove it's worth investing.

your problem is not controlling your drones
control your drones

nothanks1 posted...

But do you get to tell the Principal that hell have to wait on the new printer to be installed because youre busy teaching the new kids how to use snail and itll be sometime next week when youll have time and he can use the staff room printer for the next few days and have him thank you?

Your authoritah. Respekted.
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i dont care if some salesman hats me. you have to call the helpdesk. you dont get to walk into my office, and stand in front of my until i get off the phone. you dont get to walk up to me during lunch and expect me to help you ever
i dont care if you cant sign into your computer. turn around and walk the fuck back outside and call the helpdesk
if it will take 30 minutes to re-image your computer vs a 4 hour investigation or longer into a root cause, your computer is being re-imaged whether you like it or not. unless its a widespread issue in which case you get a loaner pc whether you like it or not

i dont care if your a manager. if one of your goons walks up to my desk instead of submitting a ticket to the helpdesk, which i am not, im not going to go to your boss. im going to go to his boss. you wont even be CCed on the email I scathe you in

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