'A fool with a tool is still a fool' declare business managers smugly ,when they hear we IT professionals are
installing a new systems and network management toolset to help us to effectively and efficiently support their IT services.
What they forget is that some fool in the business signed off on the budget to actually allow us to buy it in the first
place. But that's an altogether different news item.
The fact that some sort of tool is necessary to manage todays complex ICT infrastructures is now generally taken as a
no-brainer. IT managers should formulate a vision statement relating to tooling to help them gain funding. An example
might be 'Your mission Jim, should you accept it, is to boldy go and seek out IT components in the dark recesses of the user community, to discover them and bring
them under Starfleet (corporate IT) control.'
As an IT professional your job is not necessarily to obtain a tool that is fit for purpose. Your job is to create a
Command and Control centre (sexy military phrase and very macho) or a Mission Control Bridge ( very futuristic and science
fiction- high techy image). These are basically large areas filled with bleeping, blipping, flashing lights and consoles
with multi coloured display screens that you can proudly show off to visitors.
As ever where men are involved, it is a sign of virility to have the biggest Distributed Infrastructure
Control & Knowledge centre (DICK). And as IT professional technical head of the centre who understands the
whole technical shooting match, you can proudly live up to the title already informally used to refer to you in
the business community.. DICK-head.
