Tomorrow, a job in IT might be just about the worst job you could have.
Sure, IT has always been the least popular child in the family--seemingly important but not always in tune with the rest of band--but I'm thinking specifically about the impending, wholesale IT sell-off that's going to happen once companies realize that running your business in the cloud is here, is less expensive, and is much less complex.
Here's the killer value proposition: the cloud dramatically reduces the size and scope of the traditional IT management space. This translates into decreased complexity and reduced expense.
Complex capital planning and budgeting--gone. Data center management--gone. Software license management--gone or minimized. Asset management--minimized. Hiring and training--simplified. Security--not gone but different.
I'm not saying that IT will be gone tomorrow. I'm just saying that it will look different and will be much, much simpler than it is today.
Simple is the new black.
Google and Amazon already manage data centers better than most hosting companies; and there's no comparison when it comes to your typical IT department.
Salesforce.com (and dozens of similar companies) deliver and manage their back-office applications better than any IT organization can do in-house. They've demonstrated that they can deliver substantial value in mission-critical business areas.
Hardware continues to drop in price, but office software licensing costs hold steady. Someone explain to me why it makes sense to spend $600 on a new laptop and then to spend $850 on office software. It doesn't make sense!
The few custom applications that really deliver measurable competitive advantage can be written to run in the cloud.
In ten years, the IT department will 1) administer the apps in the cloud (add/remove users...), and 2) train and provide remote support to distributed teams of employees.
Best Buy, or a competitor, will handle provisioning, and support and maintenance of the hardware.
Your landlord will handle your networking.
- Bandit
Hardware continues to drop in price, but office software licensing costs hold steady
That's rather incorrect, unless you limit your office software to the biggest version of Microsoft Office purchased retail. If you are willing to think "Gee, maybe I don't need every Office application in the suite", your costs drop. If you have any sense at all, you drop that cost even further by volume licensing.
Then there's the other option: Don't use Microsoft Office. There are in fact, alternatives, they are useful, and they are available on any platform you wish to support.
Someone explain to me why it makes sense to spend $600 on a new laptop and then to spend $850 on office software.
Someone explain to me why you'll buy the cheapest disposable pile of crap laptop and expect it to function well for more than six months. Do you recommend buying/leasing new hardware every six months? The hardware makers will love you, but that idea is what most people call "stupid". You don't have to spend $3K mind you, but for a laptop, $1200 gets you a business class laptop that will still be highly useful in three years. Or you can buy cheap ones and throw them away regularly.
In ten years, the IT department will 1) administer the apps in the cloud (add/remove users…), and 2) train and provide remote support to distributed teams of employees.
They do that now.
Best Buy, or a competitor, will handle provisioning, and support and maintenance of the hardware.
Right. Because (random support person) with no clue as to the business function of any employee or department, no idea of the big picture, current business issues or anything beyond "Bob submitted a trouble ticket" can provide good support for people.
Let me guess. You are someone who assumes that IT functions best when they stay in the server closet and never come out except when there's a problem. No talking to people, no finding out what's pissing people off, or specific problems that may never reach the trouble ticket stage, because "oh well, I can live with it."
True, there are IT departments and people who operate that way, but honestly? They're idiots. There is a human aspect to IT that cannot be handled by GeekSquad or some other outsourced support group that only shows up because they got an SMS from a trouble ticket system.
Serious question, do you treat your IT people the way this article indicates? Do you seriously tell them that in ten years, they're all going to be replaced by Best Buy, and their landlord? Do they thank you for that? Or do they say "Well, you'll be replaced by a heuristic that calculates business cases and risk sans any human bias, so I imagine we'll have lot's of time to chat in the unemployment line".
Your landlord will handle your networking.
No, your landlord will handle your cabling and basic infrastructure, and here's a clue: That's been going on for ten years now anyway. More in some cases. But again, when you only think of "networking" as cabling, switches, and base stations, then I can see where you'd think "that's the whole story". Here's another clue. There's a bit more to it.
Here’s the killer value proposition: the cloud dramatically reduces the size and scope of the traditional IT management space. This translates into decreased complexity and reduced expense.
I have a meeting in east yahooville Kansas. Oops, no cloud, but lots of sunshine. I have a meeting in a secure location that doesn't allow external machines on the network. These are not edge cases.
Contrary to popular belief, reasonable - speed networks are not ubiquitous. Most public wifi is done on the cheap, with no care for quality. Sure, you can get a connection at a T-Mobile/AT&T hotspot, but can you get a *reliable* connection for that remote meeting? Good luck with that. It's hit or miss, because that stuff all operate at a loss. Oh, you're on a public hotspot? Did you forget to properly secure your laptop, because now without decent in-house IT people, you get whatever you bought for 600 at best buy. Oh, you don't have full-disk encryption. Did you remember to properly configure your wireless connection for that completely unsecured hotspot?
Oh well, maybe you can get a trouble ticket filled in (wherever you are) by someone who you can explain your specific business/legal/regulatory requirements too. Same day response for non-clients usually starts at $150 an hour, but hey, you don't really need in house IT to do it for you, so $150's cheap.
Maybe, before you jump on the "IT WILL BE REPLACED BY A MAGIC COMPUTING CLOUD" bandwagon, you might want to think a little deeper than your fellow fans.
First of all, thanks for laying down the other perspective.
However, I still stand by this post because all of the necessary forces are in place to make this change happen. The workforce is increasingly untethered, cost of IT is a problem, the infrastructure is in place, and there are an increasing number of service-oriented companies offering the necessary support. And simplicity is now the way of things--focus on your core competencies (and IT--both technology and applications--is seldom a core competency). Barring a major catastrophe, none of these forces are going to go away.
In any event, I'll find out whether or not it's possible soon enough. A year ago I left a company that took a very traditional approach to IT. As it grew to 500+ people over six years, I lived through everything I talked about above--management, cost, complexity, etc. Looking at my current gig, I'm pretty sure I can make this work. I'm not saying I won't have IT. But I will have IT focused on managing a much slimmer set of concerns than is typically the case.
Rule #1: no server room.
How are you proposing to prove that you're complying with various security - focused regulations when you can't say "Here's our security posture"?
What, you'll say "Ask Google" and the auditors will go "Oh of course, it's up to Google to show your compliance with these regulations"? How do you deal with a lawsuit wanting to search emails on the server? Subpoena Google? Hotmail? J. Random Email service?
I can think of no less than 3 major business areas where your "Rule #1" is legal death. Where do you propose to store customer data? Your laptop? How you prove your backups are properly secured? "I have a good lock on my garage"?
I'm not saying that IT does tend to get waaaay too into "Do it all ourselves", but the lack of understanding in what IT and Server Rooms for that matter do in your viewpoint is quite frankly, astounding.
IT has grow up over the years, along with everything else, but from this post and your reply, it's pretty obvious that you're about ten years behind.
I'm well aware of regulatory requirements. I'm also aware that having or not having a server room has nothing at all to do with regulatory compliance.
In the original post you'll notice that I suggested that security won't go away but will change. Healthcare is a major industry and management of patient information is extremely important. Healthcare is also an industry I know something about. It's interesting to note that both Google and Microsoft have huge healthcare initiatives around storing and managing patient information.
Honestly, I'm not even sure what you're taking exception to. Are you saying that what I'm proposing is 'never going to happen'?