[Gllug] IT disaster in British public authority caused by operator

[Nix]

On Fri, 17 Dec 2004, Ben Fitzgerald yowled:
> On Fri, Dec 17, 2004 at 04:45:38PM +0000, Nix wrote:
>> So I think it's just another manifestation of incompetents not knowing
>> they're incompetent because they don't realise what there is to know.
> 
> Not always the case. Contractors will deliberately avoid implementing
> automation to ensure the workload stays high enough to keep them in
> a job! I find this attitude to be odd but some are of this mindset.

Oh yes. Sorry, I was talking about permanent employees.

I've had a couple of contractors try this, but they got a bit shamefaced
after I pulled a few lunchbreaks and after-work hacks and automated some
things they said `couldn't' be automated, because it was neater that
way.

(Contractors aren't used to people who'll willingly work longer hours
than they do just to make sure a system is done elegantly. If it makes
the contractors look like idiots, well, that's a bargain. ;) )


(The advantage of staying in the same place for years is that everyone
eends up *knowing* that you're irreplaceable, and acting accordingly.
Everyone other than the people who work the money pump, that is, but you
can't have everything.)

(And of course they're wrong. I'm not remotely irreplaceable. I just try
to make people think that I am. *muhahaaaaaa*...)

> In this case EMDS itself would also benefit in total billed hours, if
> that is the arrangement they have with the government. Perhaps they
> have a pre-agreed fee - but I doubt it.

Contractor? Pre-agreed fee? It is to laugh.

-- 
`The sword we forged has turned upon us
 Only now, at the end of all things do we see
 The lamp-bearer dies; only the lamp burns on.'
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