A recent example, when we moved out headquarters to a new building, our entire network head end was being moved to another city with new data lines, new IP addresses, etc. We were able to make the turn around in 4 hours, with some configuration woes from AT&T that made some services unavailable to the remote offices for less than a day. When I talk to IT folks about it, there are congratulations and praise. Anyone outside of that field doesn’t get it. They don’t realize that when we don’t plan and spend money in the areas we see necessary, the system fails. When we do, and it works without a hitch, it’s assumed we’re goofing off, go figure.

I don’t think we’ll ever live in a world where it’s fully appreciated the work that’s done “under the hood” so to speak. But perhaps that’s the best analogy. We’ve all probably felt ripped off by that mechanic that charged us 80 bucks just to replace a friggin sensor, perhaps that’s what we look like to those outside of the field.

Bottom line, if you’re serious about your company and serious about providing the best service to your customers, spending on IT is not just a must, it’s a really wise decision in improving productivity, infrastructure and security.