{"id":8016,"date":"2014-06-03T10:00:22","date_gmt":"2014-06-03T15:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/?p=8016"},"modified":"2022-11-22T11:19:31","modified_gmt":"2022-11-22T17:19:31","slug":"6-common-user-practices-that-drive-it-departments-crazy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/2014\/06\/6-common-user-practices-that-drive-it-departments-crazy\/","title":{"rendered":"6 common user practices that drive IT departments crazy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Education\"Summary: As businesses rely more on data and technology, the barrier between IT departments and the business must come down. If businesses are to succeed in a data driven world, the business must better align itself with the IT department, and eliminate some common practices that frustrate IT. <\/em><\/span>
\n<\/a>
\nAlthough companies have struggled with IT\/Business alignment for years, it\u2019s still an issue. Even today, there\u2019s still a barrier between IT departments and end users in many businesses. Despite their best efforts, the IT department and the business still struggle to see eye-to-eye.<\/p>\n

The problem is, this alignment issue is becoming more important. As data and technology plays a larger role in the business, this barrier must come down. If not, companies will struggle to succeed in the increasingly data-driven business world.<\/p>\n

What causes this barrier? While the reasons vary, much of the problem boils down to communication. Both IT departments and business users struggle to see things from the other\u2019s point of view. As a result, both sides unknowingly do things that drive the other crazy. <\/p>\n

What are these things? While we covered a few ways that IT departments drive end users crazy<\/span><\/a> in a previous article, today let\u2019s focus on the other side of the coin: Common user practices that drive IT departments crazy. We\u2019ve compiled a list of some of the most common practices, and explained each one below. IT departments become frustrated when business users:<\/p>\n

1. Send vague support requests<\/h3>\n

Imagine storming into your doctor\u2019s office and angrily demanding that he or she fix your ailment immediately–without first explaining the symptoms. Would that fix your problem? Of course not! How can your doctor fix the problem if they don\u2019t know any symptoms? Yet, this is exactly what users often expect from the IT department.<\/p>\n

\n

\"photo
photo credit: Tsahi Levent-Levi<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\u201cVagueness has been elevated to an art form by some end users,\u201d says Chris Rixon, Executive Advisor at BMC Software<\/span><\/a>. \u201cIt’s not uncommon for self-service help desk tickets to be raised that are utterly devoid of useful information: where every option is either set to ‘other’, left blank or filled with an unhelpful message, such as ‘just fix it…now’. This, of course, means that the agent has to either decode what is meant from the crumbs of information that do exist, or more often than not, get on the phone with the user; who can then be equally vague in conversation. And so it goes on\u2026\u201d<\/span>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

2. Ignore corporate security practices and procedures<\/h3>\n

Despite the rise in cyber attacks from outside hackers, do you know what security threat IT managers fear the most? Their own employees<\/span><\/a>. End users that bypass corporate security practices place their company\u2019s data at significant risk–a problem that\u2019s on the rise as more consumer devices make their way into the business.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cCorporations invest billions of dollars to protect the confidentiality, availability, and integrity of its data,\u201d says Mary M. Gillam, Col (Ret), USAF, PhD, owner of M2G Dynamic Leadership Solutions, LLC<\/span>. \u201cThe IT Department is responsible for devising a plan to defend against these security breaches\/threats both internally and externally. Having procedures and policies coupled with security measures enables the IT Department to protect its infrastructure. However, when end-users fail to adhere to established IT corporate security procedures and policies, they put the entire business at risk to possible external network intrusions and data breaches.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

3. Purchase cloud applications behind IT\u2019s back<\/h3>\n

As mentioned in this article<\/span><\/a>, when the IT department doesn\u2019t provide users with the necessary self-service options, the users search for other solutions. The problem is, users don\u2019t consult with IT before seeking out their own solutions. In many cases, IT already offers the needed solution, or can procure that solution easily. <\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI once met a CIO who found out that a department had procured and deployed a cloud-based marketing automation platform when the first help desk ticket arrived in the queue of a puzzled agent,\u201d says Rixon. \u201cThis is not a great way to learn that the business has a new piece of mission-critical infrastructure. This phenomena is definitely on the rise! The savvy CIO will be accepting of this inevitable trend and offer the business education and guidance on the whys and wherefores of buying enterprise IT systems.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Why is going behind the IT department\u2019s back such a problem? Keeping the organization\u2019s data safe is one of the IT department\u2019s largest responsibilities. How can they keep that data secure if they don\u2019t even know where it is? <\/p>\n

4. Do not clearly define new IT requirements, or constantly change project scope<\/h3>\n

We\u2019ve all seen the IT project failure statistics: Most IT projects fail, go over budget, take too long, etc\u2026 From an outsiders view, the statistics paint a pretty bleak picture. But, they don\u2019t tell the whole story. As explained below, these failures often stem from problems outside of the IT department\u2019s control.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cFor years, IT projects have been characterized by the Government Accountability Office as being over-budget, exceeded schedule, and under performing,\u201d says Gillam. \u201cThere are many reasons for these failures. However, sometimes, end-users or clients continues to change the scope of the project making it difficult to stay on track, on budget, etc. Unfortunately, the IT Department now becomes the target of the failed project.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

5. Send countless \u201cforgotten password\u201d requests<\/h3>\n

\n\u201cStill, now, here in 2014 – “I’ve forgotten my password” tops the help desk charts,\u201d says Rixon. \u201cIt is perhaps an inevitable consequence of being human coupled with a proliferation of digital business services, but it still drives IT crazy.\u201d\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As mentioned in this article<\/span><\/a>, passwords are a source of frustration for users as well. Users claim they can\u2019t possibly remember their passwords because IT forces too many password changes, and creates complex password requirements. <\/p>\n

On the other hand, IT must impose strict password requirements to keep the company data secure. After all, as evidenced by multiple security breaches in the past, users choose overly simple passwords (like 123456)<\/span><\/a> when left to their own devices.<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s the answer? As mentioned in this article, 2-factor authentication<\/span><\/a> is one way to help this problem. While most businesses haven\u2019t implemented this security feature yet, 2-factor authentication adds another layer of security to your important applications without requiring constant password changes.<\/p>\n

6. Give IT last-minute notifications<\/h3>\n

\"photo
photo credit: mao_lini<\/a> via photopin<\/a> cc<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>If IT and the business will ever get on the same page, they need constant communication. Unfortunately, that\u2019s still a problem in many companies. Oftentimes, the business leaders make the decisions and then pass the instructions on to the IT department at the very last minute. IT gets no say in the matter, and must scramble to meet the business user\u2019s requests. <\/span><\/p>\n

\n“Organizations change all the time (i.e. new employee arrivals, relocation of offices, new requirements),\u201d says Gillam. \u201cYet, the IT Department is left out of the planning phase. At the last minute the end-user will notify the IT Department and ask, “Can you provide or relocate these IT service ASAP, because we cannot do our job.”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, what do you think? Is there anything you would add to this list? If so, please share your thoughts in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary: As businesses rely more on data and technology, the barrier between IT departments and the business must come down. If businesses are to succeed in a data driven world, the business must better align itself with the IT department, and eliminate some common practices that frustrate IT.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","slim_seo":{"title":"6 common user practices that drive IT departments crazy - mrc's Cup of Joe Blog","description":"Summary: As businesses rely more on data and technology, the barrier between IT departments and the business must come down. If businesses are to succeed in a d"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[81],"class_list":["post-8016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-cio-challenges"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8016"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13963,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8016\/revisions\/13963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mrc-productivity.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}