Re: The age old question:

Rick:

I've been trying to write an essay for months on exactly this topic ... 
and the right words continue to elude me, so I don't know if I'm going to 
be a help here ...

Many of the people who make final decisions on IT don't know very much 
about the subject ... So they go with their gut ... Their gut is 
influenced by other people who also don't know very much about IT, but can 
be very passionate about what they believe ...

Some of the most problematic influencers are major vendors, who have 
observed that it is easier to sell IT solutions that have the most sizzle 
in the marketplace, rather than selling based on the actual virtues of the 
products.

I would guess that everyone on this list understands that much, if not 
most, of what's "hot" in our business is really not very good for the 
enterprise. But our clients see IT through the eyes of uninformed Business 
Week journalists, full-page ads in the WSJ, and the WinTel computer on 
their desks ... Their reality is completely detached from ours ...

In the good old days, the individuals our clients would turn to for a 
reality check were actually qualified to perform that service ... In the 
'60s and before, IT people were crossovers from the applied and 
theoretical sciences, demanding fields in their own right, and knew what 
it was about ... In the '70s and early '80s, we were disciples of such 
people ... But those influences have faded, and what I see today is a 
situation in which a person need only know 5 things about computers that 
his boss doesn't know, and he or she is instantly granted the title of "IT 
guru".

It's a mess ... I know you're looking for a "T" chart that will illuminate 
management's consciousness, but I believe this is a cultural anthropology 
problem, and not about reason at all. I think management needs to be sold 
on who to believe ... and I think the cards are stacked against the right 
choices ...

Sorry ... I know it's a wet blanket reply ... But it's the best I could do 
...

Good luck!



John G. Dyer, CDP
Vice President
Information Management Consultants, Inc.
jdyer@xxxxxxxxxx
http://www.imcedi.com
812.421.0045 ext. 203