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Eric,I don't know if I'm disagreeing with you or not. Probably more with your comments regarding older people.
I think you could take the statement "most midrange shops adopt this ambivalence to change", take out the word "midrange" and have it still be true for most shops in any industry, IT or not. I learned that pretty early on myself.
When I've worked at companies that were reluctant to try new technologies, I've always found it a good idea to work up a brief business case and present it to the boss. More times than not, showing how something could benefit the company (and not just my own career) got me the go ahead for a pilot project, or for integration into a new or revised system. Sometimes not right away, but the seed was planted and when the time was right I was the "go to" guy. This approach requires a certain level of professionalism, i.e. you need to have the discipline to think through the benefits to the company, and articulate them in a clear and persuasive way, versus just whining constantly about not being able to use ILE. Show that you're about using technology to benefit the company, rather than using technology to pad your resume.
Follow that path, and quite often you will eventually work yourself into a position to actually influence and even determine what technologies are used at your company. I've done it twice, ending up in Chief Engineer type positions.
Yes, you will run into that shop where you're hitting a brick wall with every suggestion, and even the most beneficial changes will be denied for whatever reason. Once you've given it a fair shot, leave.
Eventually, you may get to a place where you feel the desire to explore technologies that would not necessarily benefit the company you work for, or any likely prospects. Maybe you can make a deal to work after hours on your own time to learn them. If not, maybe it's time to start your own company.
Part of the advantage to the AS/400-iSeries-i5-System_i is it's longevity, it's an incredibly mature, robust, and secure operating system. In an industry where tossing out all your gear every 3 or 4 years (and many times the people as well) is the norm, it can also be a liability. That's the challenge.
midrange.com
Regards,
- Lou Forlini
Software Engineer
System Support Products, Inc.
At 1:53 PM -0500 4/13/06, DeLong, Eric wrote:
No Lou, I'm talking about shutting out new talent and innovation because of fear or laziness. I'm no newbie to this platform, having started with the S/36 while in high school. My entire career is based on midrange, and I love our platform. But I've NEVER worked for a shop where I didn't have to fight (sometimes in peril of losing my job) for the adoption of new technology. I know that not all shops work this way, but I believe (based on MY experiences) that most midrange shops adopt this ambivalence to change. I have felt frustrated by this again and again, and feel that this attitude is killing our platform.... Ageist? Perhaps.... Again, in my experience, the senior exec(s) in IT sets the tone and direction of the shop. If the tone comes across as "do it the way we've always done it", then innovation is immediately eliminated.... I know my original post was worded to be somewhat offensive. I'll apologize for that, but I stand by my notion that we "professionals" need to be more accepting of new ideas. We need to dazzle the young talent with possibilities instead of forcing them into submission. We must accept that what we did in 1986 is not applicable to today's application consumers.
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