As an IT professional, what do you wish you were filled in about with
Top 10 things you wish you knew as an IT pro....
Answers
Timely hiring forecasts (not, "Oh by the way, we have 2 people starting on Monday"), types of
- A full understanding of the strategic plan.
- A budget to properly train the staff on using the technology instead of OTJ
- Enough time and resources (usually time) to complete the project.
- Realistic expectations.
Just to name a few
I wish in 1976, when I sat down at my first computer keyboard(I had a breadboard years before that), I wish someone had told me, before I wrote my first program, that all programs are data manipulation and interface.
All programs, from spreadsheets, to word processing to every game from PONG to Skyrim, are ALL data manipulation and interface design.
Had I been told that, I might have gotten into more front end design instead of back end design. Back end programmers are the Right Tackle of IT work...back end(database programmers) get no glory, and though they can be paid very well, never get the glory or higher pay of a guy who can make pretty colors look good on a screen, just as a right tackle holds back half the defensive line, so he never gets the glory of a touchdown.
If a Right tackle does his job well, the QB still needs to be able to throw, the wide receivers still need to run their routes, the halfback needs to not trip, and those along side the guard, the rest of the offensive line need to do their jobs, or the play is a loss; and if it is a positive play, the Right Guard gets no credit. But, if the Right Guard fails, the Defensive tackle comes in, creams the quarterback, and the play is a loss...and the Right Guard gets chewed out for letting the guy through.
OK, done with my rant.
But still, if I had been told the simple fact that all programs are data and interface, I would not have spent the first 20 years making interfaces that only impress engineers at a German auto factory...function over form.
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