Re: Performance Review -- MIDRANGE-L

Amen,  Toomany will spen $100,000's on a refrigerated truck to deliver the
goods but$0 on the sysyem to tell them what and where.
----- Original Message -----
From: <rob@dekko.com>
To: <MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 10, 2001 10:33 AM
Subject: RE: Performance Review


>
> You are being too general with your comments on a IT company versus a non
> IT company.  I used to work for a consultant firm years ago.  The only
> training we got was what we could bill customers for, or, if we got some
> credit from IBM for selling machines.  Magazines were on your dollar.
>
> However with the company I've been happily working for, (going on 15
> years), I've been to COMMON several times, IBM technical conferences, our
> excellent local users group.  We've hired on site trainers.  Get many
> magazines.  And the list goes on.
>
> It's in the attitude.  Believe it or not, the IT systems consultant
company
> viewed programmers as an expense, (hence their bankruptcy?).  While the
> company I now work for views systems as one of their 4 pillars of
strength.
>
> Rob Berendt
>
> ==================
> Remember the Cole!
>
>
>
>                     Phil Groschwitz
>                     <sublime78ska@yahoo        To:
MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
>                     .com>                      cc:
>                     Sent by:                   Subject:     RE:
Performance Review
>                     owner-midrange-l@mi
>                     drange.com
>
>
>                     04/05/2001 10:57 AM
>                     Please respond to
>                     MIDRANGE-L
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Couple thoughts . . .
>
> Many people have quit and then did the same job as a
> consultant, sometimes for the same company.  More pay,
> a lot more freedom, and a **huge** increase in
> respect.
>
> This happened with a bit of reqularity during the last
> recession.  Westinghouse, for example, downsized their
> documentation department out of existance.  These guys
> formed a company doing the same work, and guess who
> their biggest client was?  Westinghouse.  (The
> documentation company (can't remember the name) was
> recently purchased by another company.)
>
> Also, I've found there to be much more satisfaction
> when working for an IT company rather than in the IT
> department of a non-IT company.  Whatever your
> profession, I think the satisfaction is highest when
> the primary business of the company is also your
> profession.
>
> In other words, are you viewed as an expense or a
> revenue stream.
>
> Phil
>
>
>
>
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: MacWheel99@aol.com
> > [mailto:MacWheel99@aol.com]
> > > Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2001 5:43 AM
> > > To: MIDRANGE-L@midrange.com
> > > Subject: Performance Review
> > >
> > >
> > > I just had my annual review & it was not a pretty
> > sight.
> > >
> > > The good news includes - I still have my job - my
> > boss has
> > > given me clear
> > > indication of what needs to be fixed & some
> > overall goals,
> > > which have been
> > > sorely lacking in recent years.
> > >
> > > It occurs to me that it would be extremely
> > constructive if I
> > > could provide my
> > > boss with some alternatives to the system he now
> > uses, since
> > > he is not a
> > > computer technical person ... how on earth is a
> > non technical
> > > computer person
> > > expected to be able to judge the quality of
> > software I write
> > > in some language
> > > he does not know ... how challenging is this or
> > that?
> > >
> > > There is stuff that is extremely difficult for me
> > to do, but I cannot
> > > communicate with a non-programmer about what the
> > challenges
> > > are.  How can a
> > > non-programmer evaluate my performance?
> > >
> > > It would be simple for some 3rd party, familiar
> > with the
> > > languages we use, to
> > > look at some of my programs in an audit & make
> > some remarks
> > > about how my
> > > relative worth to the company, compared to the
> > quality of
> > > code at other
> > > comparable companies, but I have been suggesting
> > for decades
> > > that we get a
> > > computer audit on a larger scale, so this just
> > aint going to happen.
> > >
> > > Of course this sort of thing can backfire.
> > >
> > > I remember in the midst of some conversion at a
> > former
> > > emplouer whining about
> > > some challenge they had given me, saying that
> > there is no way
> > > I can get all
> > > this done inside the deadlines, and my boss
> > informing me that
> > > the company,
> > > without telling me, had asked IBM if I had what it
> > took to do
> > > the conversion,
> > > without any professional help, and the SE (which
> > tells you
> > > how long ago this
> > > was) told them that I was the best programmer that
> > anyone at
> > > the local IBM
> > > office had ever had the good fortune to run
> > across.  So the
> > > result of that
> > > was they threw even more work my way.   The shame
> > of it was
> > > that when I
> > > finally left that place, I was unable to use the
> > SE as a work
> > > reference.  I
> > > did ask the SE for confirmation that this was not
> > a snow job.
> > >
> > > I asked my current boss
> > >
> > > HOW MANY DAYS HAS THE COMPANY BEEN DOWN DUE TO
> > COMPUTER
> > > INFRASTRUCTURE
> > > PROBLEMS?  He said NONE, in a tone of voice as if
> > he was
> > > surprised that I
> > > should ask such a question.  I told him that in my
> > opinion
> > > there are 3
> > > reasons why that is so ,,, our choice of having
> > IBM 400
> > > hardware, our choice
> > > of a good ERP, and my performance in managing it.
> > >
> > > Now I think that there ought to be some industry
> > statistics -
> > > how many days
> > > of surprise down time & other mishaps do other
> > comparable
> > > companies have -
> > > 400 & non-400, so there is a basis of comparison
> > with our performance.
> > >
> > > How much time do companies typically spend testing
> > software
> > > improvements?
> > > How critical is this?
> > >
> > > I was going to ask him, but I bit my tongue,
> > because my foot
> > > was headed there
> > > at lightning speed.  HOW MANY COMPUTER BUGS HAVE
> > BEEN
> > > INTRODUCED AS A RESULT
> > > OF SOFTWARE I HAVE WRITTEN FOR THE COMPANY.
> > >
> > > The reason I bit my tongue is that I can think of
> > 3 in the
> > > last 2 years & the
> > > really embarrassing part of that answer is that 1
> > of them I
> > > could not find,
> > > so I developed a work around.
> > >
> > > This is another area in which there might be some
> > reliable statistics.
> > > Rate of bugs created, both in terms of like
> > > 1 bug per million lines of source code & how many
> > in what time period
> > >
> > > It would not be fair to compare to Microsoft
> > Windows because
> > > that software is
> > > written with full intention of tossing it in the
> > garbage
> === message truncated ===
>
>
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