End of the IT department

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Read an article here about IT departments being extinct by 2013 and it got me thinking that the way IT applications are going it could be right. Not trying to scaremonger but what do people think the future is for IT departments as I can see it going this way eventually.

 

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Bumpkis, they will always need us.

 

I think it unlikely as well. Too many people need help for simple things, let alone more complex stuff, for the IT department to go away!

Harry.

 

So... who is going to support the online stuff? Mmmm-hmmm... techs.

Who is going to fix the computers when they can't get online? Mmmm-hmmm... techs.

Just because you pull things from in-house to online doesn't remove the need for someone to support it. They may not work for that company internally... but SOMEONE will have to support that company. Thus... the IT employment situation looks as bright or brighter than it EVER has.

So who is going to determine what online services to implement and subscribe to? Or whether it is cost-effective to go to online services in the first place? Mmmm-hmmm, a CIO or IT manager.

Even if services were outsourced, I daresay that being a CIO would STILL involve quite a bit more than being a "chief electricity officer".

So how does putting these services online REDUCE the chance for data breaches? And how does that eliminate techs? The way I see it, you'll need a tech to secure the stuff on the inside... and the online services company will need a tech to ensure the data is secure on the outside. Result: MORE techs, not fewer techs.

So how does storing your data off-site, where you can't control how that data is stored, make it MORE secure?

Does this guy even WORK in IT?!?

...not if you standardize OSes and workstations across the company...

And, again, who is going to support the hosted desktops? Techs. They're not gonna fix themselves...

So... this guy thinks that network and desktop support techs can just happily and magically convert to being programmers.

Yep... this guy absolutely doesn't know what he's talking about. Fear not; your careers are safe.

 

Come on now Slypie, you should at least know better and not buy into this fictional talker well on a serious note a human is always needed in IT.

 

The article is annoying on so many fronts. I’m not offended as if my job is in jeopardy, but I feel for those that are stressed by reading something like this.

IT departments (very ambiguous statement) are as important as the Accounting department. I mean with all the automated systems do we really need an Accounts Payable / Receivable department? For that matter, now that everything is documented, what does HR really do? I interview staff that work for me, so what does HR do, filter resumes?

The article says virtualization will make IT departments redundant. Is that because virtualization works with smoke and mirrors? For some reason I thought a server (or farm) would be needed for ‘dummy’ workstations. Furthermore, are the workstations / terminals not hardware devices? Do hardware and a software image(s) never need troubleshooting? How do these devices connect? Will virtualization and terminals replace the network (wired and wireless)? Oh wait, the wireless network doesn’t need support – tell that to my neighbour whose being troubleshooting the wireless controller for 2-days.

The other statement that jumped at me was “workers increasingly drifting away from the office environment and becoming more mobile”. I beg to differ! I know it’s a big buzz word – mobile worker. However, most people need to work in teams with other people to discuss, agree, move forward on projects, budgets, resources. Relatively speaking, there are very few roles within most organizations that allow the staff to be completely mobile.

Technically I could do all my work remotely using VPN and conference bridges. This would save the company lots of real estate money. Let’s just say, the pilot failed miserably. Ever hear the line “out of sight – out of mind”.

The article is humorous at best – but please don’t read anything more into it other than virtualization, wireless, and mobile are buzz words and a technology to be familiar with.

 

To me the article reads as a puff for the company masquerading as 'news'.

Far too many mags print such stuff - it's easy for the hacks and makes the mag look 'more informed'.

Harry.

 

Alot of this trend is already well in swing
many many companies are taking the first leap and consolidating to centralised data centers with thin clients on the end

support for thin clients? what support, for all intense and purpose they are dumb terminals, very little internal to support, perhaps a minimal network support structure would be required

all the beef is in the core, at the primary DC, citrix farms, VDI, blade systems, SANs, with this kind of deployment we are seeing clients consolidate multi site 1000 user IT infrastructures into two racks at a colo, and this space is developing at a rapid pace

Future versions of citrix and vmware/xen will improve upon this trend even further, and it really is shrinking the end user IT presence required, that said you will always have IT, and always need techs to look after it, where it is is irellivent
that said consolidated architectures require a lot less hands to manage when done properly, especially with single glass pane solutions to management and configuration

 

I have to agree and disagree a bit

they are buzzwords, because they are serious modern concerns and they are being taken up by numerous companies
I spend the better part of my days designing solutions that encompass the vast majority of 'buzzwords' not because they are 'buzzwords' but because they are the fundemental building blocks of future systems architecture, the fact that a modern blade chassis with some virtualisation software, build in infiniband switches and a storage shelf can do the same today as a ROOM of 14+ racks did a few years ago is testament to that, and whilst I only deal with a handful of clients each day, the fact its keeping me busy (and excited) leads me to believe it is a continuing trend, it just hasn't reached everywhere yet

Yes teams do need to collaborate, but that doesnt require being in the same room anymore either, it requires the right tools to collaborate..
sometimes thats a meeting room, othertimes it's a headset and a skype client!

 

"The network is the computer!"

 

As for buzzwords becoming real (that’s what I think you were saying), I agree. That’s why I said people should become familiar with them.

I’m not saying virtualization, or terminals aren’t coming. They may, but I don’t see them changing 100% of the corporate computing structure.

My World:
Today we don’t have IT staff at our branches, they’re dispatched as needed. The company is looking at virtualization (in a big way). We’re looking at using terminal machines in branches (over 1500 of ‘em) & HO, with the processing happening in the data centers. We have consolidated the data centers.

From my point of view there may be a shift in resources, but I don’t see the number people resources shrinking by a drastic amount.

There needs to be a business reason to drive change. Our drivers are power resources (and money). There is no power in the geographical area for us to draw from anymore. -Yeah, we’re looking at that

Teleworkers (mobile users) can work without being in the same room. However, studies have shown that face-to-face (and actual interaction w/ co-workers) is more productive than conference calls, and other online collaboration systems. Not really hard to believe is it? You have to be pretty disciplined to be a true teleworker. At home most people start doing non-work related things. Distractions are everywhere. People lose ‘touch’ with the office. Peers at the office don’t include remote workers as often (out of sight, out of mind). It’s absolutely true. Above that, if I chair a meeting (or just participate) I want to read your face, I want to see your eyes, I want your attentiion! That’s how I work – that’s how I know the message got through. Online collaboration tools, and/or conf calls, are great when face-to-face isn’t possible, but it’s rarely my first choice.

BTW, what system would these remote users be using? Would a dumb terminal with an IP phone off a VPN router work? Doesn't sound very mobile. How about laptops; but then that's not a 'dumb' terminal. Just wondering who would support that hardware when issues are discovered.

 

not coming, here now! only growing

Exactly the trends I am witnessing

Dynamic automated systems require FAR less resources to manage and maintain than traditional systems, an intelligent SAN platform can decrease the admin/PB ration quite significantly

Absobloodyloutley, no disagreement from me there, the fact is power, cooling and other such physical facility restraints are a concern for most companies now, and with the threat of (And existence in some places) of green taxes and such, using less space and resources saves money, the ultimate business reason for anything!, aside from that there are literally thousands of good business reasons to adopt modern IT infrastructures with modern best practices, it really does help IT transition from a negativley viewed cost center to a value adding arm of the business

True, which is why I highlighted the need for the 'right tool for the job' there are plenty of circumstances where a meeting is required, face to face time is needed etc
that said, a generation of young people perfectly able to work productively behind any computer with a net connection is moving into the work force, and the level of discipline required is decreasing as it becomes more standard, that coupled with the fact that if a whole team work remotely from each other, the out of sight out of mind concept is moot, if all your interactees are away from you, you must think about them, you cant just use the guy who 'is in' to bypass them
Meetings themself are often a collosal waste of time, and in most cases are anything but productive, the man hours lost in a face to face meeting with 5 highly skilled workers just to agree something is astronomical, and not in the best interest of many of the globally dispersed businesses of today

Being remote and being mobile are two seperate requirements, there are plenty of thin client laptops with nothing but an RDP session and a 3G card built into them to facilitate BOTH if needed, its horses for courses
there are still plenty of instances where physical fat clients are needed, but many many more where they are not these days, i mean seriously how much beef do you need to run outlook, word and a LoB app? not much

 

hehe! My thread in 2006!

http://www.certforums.co.uk/forums/thread13731.html

 

Doh beat me to it

I actually agree with a lot of the article in the sense that I think the IT department within companies is on borrowed time. I think in the future IT will move more towards Citrix and Virtualisation and if this happens and we move to thinclients then what is there to support onsite?

I personally think that IT will move more into large data centres with support staff on phones for help with software related issues and and network engineers keeping everything ticking over. IT consultancy will be big and IT as a whole will be streamlined but my role as a 2nd line engineer won't exist. I can see this happening in the next 5-10 years but hopefully I'll be a consultant by then (joke).

I did find it funny about people moving into programming thinking everyone know how to program.