Ok, this is a tuff one, because the nature of the subject and because HQ is reading!
To illustrate this I will use as example my own reality.
As of 2004 I am working in Santiago Chile for the second largest container shipping company in the word and they have their HW in Geneva (GVA). In the begining of my days in the company we did this the best way we could. Our Data Center was a closet with PCs as servers. HQ was not much in the picture. We had our yearly IT meetings where the guidelines where talked about but that was about it.
In 2005 hell broke loose. We were in the middle out our AD migration when due to a communication problem between the GVA and Chile IT team GVA got the impression that we did things without consulting, disregarding guidelines and at the end….. the way we wanted. The result was a redeye flight to GVA. The two day trip was an intense crash course in the GVA way of doing things, and you know what? It made sense. So much sense, that just three years we made a turn back, from “terrorists” that could bring the network down, to an example for the region.
Why did the GVA way make sense? Here are the points that were the basic guidelines.
1- Standardized HW: We are only allowed to purchase 2 brands of PC/Servers and within the brands just a handful of models. This may sound very restrictive and it is. For some a local vendor with a local brand may be very cheap regarding the corporate standard. But the benefits are tremendous. We now have no more than 5 images for all 220 users PCs making deployment a 1 hour deal.
2- Standardized Security: We are only allowed one brand of Firewall. Again, restrictive, but at the end of the day, when there is a problem, HQ can intervene with little effort.
3- Standardized OS: More then the OS, it’s the settings. All OS (PC or Server) has to be in English. This makes HQ support easier.
4- SW Licenses: This is a big one. We get most licenses via HQ because HQ has global agreements for several vendors. Not sure if we same money or not, but it is easy just to deal with one supplier.
5- Update infrastructure data: We have to keep at HQ an up to date diagram of our infrastructure. Again, for us, no use, but for HQ? Tons of help when something happens. And things do happen.
6- Unified email system: We all should be running the same version of Exchange, this is very useful, it takes out a lot of the guessing when there are problems.
So why comply with all of this and with so much effort.. taking the heat locally from other Managers?
No I am not sucking up. It just makes sense.
And I can prove it. Our Bolivia Office depends from Chile commercially and in IT, and for me to have our office in Bolivia with the same standards as our Chile office has been a huge help. Since we did the project on getting Bolivia up to date the amount of time spent assisting has gone down! Way down!
We now even have time to assist other countries. At the end this helps HQ! We absorb a bit of the load.
At the end this is a tricky subject, I think there is no real rule here, you have to play it by hear, each organization is different, but I would say, if you can, follow the guidelines.
George.
My view from the Captain's Chair. 16 years in IT gives me a bit of view how things are in IT. So here we go!
Standards are great, because business can concentrate on BUSINESS, not in IT. But i remember the Old Days, and how we rebuild your AD infrastructure to make consistent with the HQ Standard... All thanks to an old NT 4 BDC put in the right place. :-)
ReplyDeleteI do remember. This is ties into my first post "The IT Dilemma : Where to focus your resources". It a corporate world following the guidelines leads to a strong and stable infrastructure, and this will let you finally focus in the business.
ReplyDeleteThe hard part is when you deal with other managers. For them you are the jerk that doesn´t reason and wants to do things "by the book" (as Spock would say). The thing is that you know that you need a foundation (because you spent 4 to 6 years at the University studding all of this... or you have ions years of experience) but the rest of the world could care less.
There is where communication and being a socialite comes into play and that is where IT people generally fail. It’s a hard challenge but in today’s world you have to embark this route, if not, the road will be full of pain! (I know what I say… I am going through this now)
George.
Nice, George, keep it going! --Duncan
ReplyDeleteHello George
ReplyDeleteAfter all these years of experience you may see the evolution of IT, as described on this paper.
The key to the simplified management of a huge forest is standardization!, No doubt, but the biggest problem is to enforce these standards by all members of the forest.
I agree with Oscar comments, "BUSINESS MUST concentrate on BUSINESS, not en IT
Rodrigo