Bad Tech Gets The Wrong People Fired

Those who work with Fortune 500 companies soon realize their technology infrastructure is a mess. Like removing layers of wallpaper from an old house, these massive companies have boxes and apps that represent each decade of their existence.

Flat files from legacy mainframes, undocumented code, and recovery procedures that are only known by a few people nearing retirement. This is the state of almost every large company I have engaged with. We have seen disasters waiting to happen at international banks, delivery services, airlines, and governmental entities.

The main culprit for such devastation is the corporate culture itself. An up-and-coming executive will champion projects that reflect best on themselves. Like the US Senate, the aim is for short-term wins with no thought on long-term consequences.

Technology providers seeking lucrative contracts play the game. Focusing on what the solution can do now over how it will help the company over the long term. When things go wrong, it is not the person who signed the contract that is in jeopardy. It is the IT staff tasked with patching holes on a sinking ship.

The answer is always something new. Moving to the cloud, moving back from the cloud, adopting AI, or subscribing to a SaaS subscription. Again, a short-sided approach designed to enhance an individual's standing within the company.

With each new purchase, the company gets farther away from solving the problem. They increase technology costs and fragility while promoting the people responsible. This practice has to stop.

As an IBM partner, we help companies stop wasting resources. Most recently for American Airlines. Including AI readiness, architecture modernization, and integrations. If nothing else, we provide a second or third set of eyeballs on what you already have determined.

To learn more, send me a message: [email protected]