The Human Cost of IT

Back in the days of punched cards, paper tape and a computer that filled a room, a much bigger portion of IT cost was the 'Tin and String'. Users accepted that new functionality took months to implement, that they had to take what they were given (and work pretty close to the 'Mainframe'), and that complaining was not the order of the day. Programmers ruled, and Users simply accepted their fate.

In many ways we've come a long way since then. The cost per functional unit of any IT solution has dropped dramatically. Users can now pretty much get what they want off the shelf (COTS?), and don't expect to wait very long or pay very much for it. Also, the power of computing that we all expect at home puts a lot of pressure on the work IT department to deliver powerful, fast and fit-for-purpose solutions.

CIOs have to deliver faster, cheaper and more reliable solutions, while being business-intimate and responsive to the demands placed upon them. Supporting (maintaining and importantly upgrading) existing solutions to keep pace often puts extreme pressure on any IT department staff. Notwithstadning this, I'd like to throw another 'curved ball' into the mix. With a large portion of the 'Baby Boomers' about to retire - just how is Knowledge of the existing Systems and Business Knkoweldge going to be retained? Also, with the current squeeze on existing headcount, some knowledge is just being 'laid off' out of necessity.

I'd be interested in how you are addressing:

• Application Knowledge Capture to keep those legacy systems running, enhanced and stable (the day a systems goes into production, it is, by definition, 'Legacy')
• Business Process Knowledge Capture to stay up to speed with being able to support your business and understand is current and every changing needs.

I heard an interesting comment by Warren Buffett, the world's second richest man, last week defining the difference between Success and Happiness. "Success is Getting what you Want, Happiness Wanting what you Get". Applying this to IT, are your Users Successful and Happy? Are they getting what they need, and needing what they get? In my last blog I noted the dicothomy between how we in IT perceive our delivery, and how the business perceives our delivery.

The ultimate dilemma is how to continue to be business-intimate when we are facing losing those all-important staff that are either about to walk out the door to enjoy a (hopefully) long retirement, or simply become a growing portion of the 'at risk' statistics. Some of these staff have been around for years, and I would like to propose that in many cases, their knowledge of your business is more important than their IT skills, which is often what we predominantly measure them on.

Business Knowledge is every bit as important a metric as Application or Systems Knowlege. The business is comprised of human beings with business knowledge - but without an understanding of that knoweldge, or the ability to get it, document it and use it within IT will seriously let 'our' side down. We are no longer just Techies or Geeks that can impose our will on the businesses that we rely on for our bread and butter.

At a conference last week, Peter Hinssen stated that "... no-one uses the phrase 'Knowledge Base' any more. It's a dirty word." Perhaps a business collaboration tool similar to Facebook (we all know how to intuitively use that and it's intrinsic value) would enable a business to build a Knowledge Base in real-time by the people that acutally understand the business? But that's another topic ... recognising that a gap exists takes us half-way towards solving it.

Human Capital is every bit as important as Technical Capability.

Now, as it's my birthday, this Human is popping down the pub to practice his technical ability in turning a Vector into a Scalar.