Miscellany

Monday, January 31, 2011
Dread

I've been dreading this week from a work perspective. There are a variety of reasons for this (none of which are suitable for public consumption), but mostly I'm just sad and disappointed on a professional level. I've been with my company for a long time, and like any long-term relationship, there are ebbs and flows. I'm just in an "ebb" right now. I really dislike dreading work days, though, so I'm working on resolving my feelings in a satisfactory way, if possible.

Where's the Boeph

Everyone's up in arms over the shocking revelation that the "beef" used in Taco Bell's products is actually only about 35% beef, with the balance being Thor-only-knows-what. Now I love Taco Bell. It's been my favorite fast food for 100 years, and the news that their beef is questionable doesn't change that for me. Because, really, when I pay 79 cents for a taco, I am under no illusions as to the quality of the ingredients. Hell, for 79 cents, I'm just happy the meat filling isn't green. Let's be honest - Taco Bell is a purveyor of Food Porn. Don't act all shocked when you get what you paid for. If you want Kobe beef, then go to del Frisco's.

I Don't ♥ IT 

Sorry to pile on to those of you who work in IT, but Christ on a crutch, why is it so fucking hard to get anything fixed? I spend at least 40 person hours a year fucking around with IT, either trying to get things to work that should work, or trying to get services that our IT department offers, but it takes months to get activated. I know of some companies whose IT department has 30 days to respond to a trouble ticket. Way to be responsive, IT. You  RULE. I'll be sure and send a note to the CIO about how great you're doing - right after I'm done waiting for the next available agent.

6 comments:

Random Michelle K said...

re IT, in many cases it comes down to manpower.

Our help desk tickets used to sometimes take weeks to clear. They hired two more people and BAM, average ticket is down to under a day.

So chances are, problem lies up the chain of command, in admins who don't want to hire more IT techs.

mom in northern said...

It isn't just IT that sucks...try buying a major appliance that works. I just wish more people would write letters to the CEO's and board memebers of major companies...any company...fill in the blank..

Karl said...

Hmm... There are 3 of us full-time in our IT department (though I'm dedicated to programming most of the time) and we handle about 350 users. We don't have a ticket system and our wait time is virtually zero. At worst, it's same-day help. You call and we remote into your machine while you're on the phone - fix/install/adjust - done. Thank you for letting us know you were having a problem, does that help?

But when WE call the IT group that has to handle OUR issues, it's more along the lines of what you see.

And what mom said! yeesh...

Matt said...

My company uses an outside contractor for IT stuff and we get pretty good service. Easy phone fixes while you wait and next day site visits if needed.

We do employ a system architect/programmer for our proprietary software. He's a bit twitchy as he seems to do all of his work at 3:00 a.m. judging by the time stamps on the trouble tickets. About once a month, you'll see him around the office, looking pale and nicotine stained, mumbling about subroutines and user error.

Lance Weber said...

I coined a phrase for this: "Wow, you guys really put the SH into IT"

Darren said...

Re: IT.

Having worked in various parts of IT, there are a number of reasons for the kinds of crap that non-IT folks experience.

One is that the IT folks that most people interact with -- help desk, etc. -- tend to be "entry level" folk. Largely, this is because good help desk people don't end up getting paid a whole lot more than crappy help desk people, so if they want a raise, they move out of that area of IT.

Another is that IT folks in general often have a hard time seeing themselves as service providers. It's an inflated sense of importance. I work in IT for a retailer, and our IT group at large needs to be continually reminded that we sell socks -- we're not an IT company. Unfortunately, upper management is often mystified by IT, which gives IT decision-makers *way* too much power to stay up in their ivory towers.