MyRagan: Blog

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Member since 05/18/2007

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Yada Yada Yada
Ramblings of an overworked communicator

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March 27, 2008

IT People...They're Really Not THAT Bad

I don't think I'm alone in saying that communicators spend a fair amount of time being frustrated by their Technology departments. It's certainly true for me. But I have to say that, out of all the departments I work with, one of the best relationships I have is with folks in Technology. Yes, they often make me want to pull every hair out of my head and run screaming from the building, but all in all, they at least TRY to understand my issues and, even though they almost always reject the solution I'M recommending, they have something to offer in return.

Case in point: today we FINALLY launched our new Intranet homepage. I emphasize "finally" because this project has been in the works since November, with launch scheduled for February. Unfortunately, our web content management application seems to be on its last legs and has been going down just about daily for the past month. Before that, there were delays in building the widgets because the programmer's machine kept crashing. And at the end, when the page was finished and ready to launch last week, my Tech guy informed me that "Oh, actually, we can't really replace the old homepage because our system won't support the changeover." As you can imagine, that was NOT what I wanted to hear...especially at the END of 4 months of work on the site.

So why I am now defending the honor of my humble Technology department? Because they didn't give up. And lo and behold, at 12:30pm today, the new page launched. I don't know how they did it...don't even care. It's up!! Hallelujah!

The reason I'm giddy over IT right now is because they found a way to make it work and, unfortunately, with other so-called partners I have in this organization, that's not usually the case. When the going gets tough, we change direction. But not this time. No, those resourceful little troubleshooters in IT found a way to get it done. And I will be forever greatful.

Long live IT!

comments, Post A Comment!

Cher1117 posted 01/18/2008:

Sounds like your IT group is working with aging and failing equipment. It's not their fault that technology is vaulting ahead faster than corporate budgets are used to, and they are probably twice as frustrated because they LIKE it when tech works! I've been on both sides, so I'm so glad to read your post. Don't know about your team, but my team in GE appreciated donuts.

MarianaSarceda posted 01/18/2008:

Totally agree, Robyn. IT guys can really get on your nerves from time to time, especially when you are working and the system crashes and you ask them for help and the say.."Well, everything seems to work fine over here" or when they tell your that that great internet update you'll been working on for months cannot be used because it's not compatible with the site's platform. But it's also true that there are many occassions, when they really do their best to help you that you can only take your hat off and thank them heartily!

ColleenH posted 01/18/2008:

I know what you mean, Robyn. We're fortunate to have a couple IT folks that move heaven and earth for us. (Ah if only the entire group were as responsive but hey, we'll take what we can get.) One guy in particular really gets it that sometimes we can't give him a lot of lead time. For example, we get in some video late in the day and need it to be streamed and pushed out to the servers for inclusion in the next day's electronic newletter. Not a problem - we call him and he makes it happen. It's great to have that kind of partner.