Confessions of an IT Manager_Phil Factor

The Whipping Boy
First published 21 July 2006
Whenever harsh words are heading in Phil's
direction, he does what all seasoned contractors do in
the circumstances, which is to calculate, on the hourly
rate, how much he is being paid to be there in the
room listening to the tirade.
When working in IT, one often makes erroneous assumptions about one's
role – assumptions that are not borne out by experience. Like a dog that
mistakenly believes his true role in life is to rush up and down the garden fence
barking furiously, I have always foolishly assumed my true role in an
organisation is to develop IT systems that meet their needs.
One experience particularly sticks in my memory. I started work at a small
start-up telecommunications company, at a time when the data-side of the
enterprise was seriously deranged. The company had been a startling success
and usage of their service for making phone-calls had shot up. It had all been
too sudden, and the small, inexperienced IT department were bewildered by the
demands being placed on them. They were producing invoices for their