My Years in the Information Technology Trenches, From Data Processing to Information Technology

About This Work As IT (information technology) developed from the plug board, mainframe computer, and punched cards to the Internet with streaming video and beyond, I was there, experiencing the trials, tribulations, the exultations, the highs and the lows. I saw it happen in big corporations, small companies, consulting firms, as an entrepreneur, in a research university, in a teaching university, and as an independent consultant and author. I experienced the development of the IT field in the role of programmer, system designer and developer, data base designer and developer, employee, manager, consultant, educator, author, and user. This work presents an historical perspective in parallel with the human drama, as I saw the field of IT evolve, as problems were created and solved with often-elegant solutions. As the field developed the human drama personified by technical distance between the IT professional with the understanding and knowledge of the technology and the leaders and managers with the authority to make technological decisions unfolded, I was there. This unfolding is a major theme of the book and my career. Some of the humans consist of managers, who failed to seek advice from and/or listen to their technologists. By not understanding technology or not taking technical advice these managers made bad decisions. Other players are technicians who could not or would not explain technology to their managers so that they could make intelligent decisions. The finger points both ways. I believed that university teaching could provide an anecdote to technical distance and I experienced eight years in the quest of the required PhD--but there is little or no evidence that the anecdote took. While the language of this work is geared toward the lay reader, the young IT professional who is interested in the history, issues and problems of her field is the primary audience. First hand experience of the IT evolution is not an option for today’s IT professional, or layperson for that matter. Thus the rich anecdotes describing early computers, programming practices, management practices, and other aspects of the developed field are the only way to experience, albeit vicariously, the early days--the supposedly “golden era” of computing--the progression from data processing, to information systems, to information technology, to everything technology. This work points out that in many instances technology may not have progressed as far or as fast as might be thought and some cases may have even taken a step or two backwards. As Shakespeare’s Horatio said to Petronius, “Is there really anything new under the sun?” For example, IT has become over enamored with fancy GUIs (Graphical User Interfaces), flashy screens and the like at the expense of data--its accuracy, its integrity, its safety, and its security. Hence CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Destroy)! During my careers I encountered bosses, colleagues, and, unfortunately, nemeses. The stories of their influences and interactions are described in and around the events in which they participated. Other stories include how, in some ways, I was often ahead of the technology curve⎯doing things with computers that others said could not be done. In addition to the above these reminises also include my reflections on happenings along the way together with my analysis of common threads--situations that happened in many venues and appeared to be location, and maybe even situation independent. I analyze my career and offer advice to those who follow--advice I often did not take--but should have. Technical distance deserves a little more treatment here. If one is tuned in one can detect signs of technical distance all around. When this distance, often a gulf is not bridged bad decisions and courses of action often result--to wit the Challenger explosion January 28, 1986. Technical distance was at work at P&G when programmers could not get adequate key punching support. It was evident at Billboard Publications when the wrong consultant’s advice was followed. Technical distance has followed me all the days of my careers. It is one of the reasons that I went into academia. I wanted to improve the technical skills of the technologists and the managerial skills, including understanding of technology, of managers. Many of today’s managers are lawyers not engineers. MBA programs are often devoid of the necessary understanding of technology. Because the value of understanding technology is often not made clear to today’s students and managers, students and managers at all levels tend to lack the ambition and interest in technical subjects to become qualified to make decisions regarding them. One of the outcomes of technical distance is inflexible computer systems. When a computer system is not flexible, inflexible⎯its keepers say, “Sorry Sir/Madam we cannot do that. The computer system has not kept up with our business changes and there is no way for us to do that.” When a computer system is flexible they say, “Yes Madam, we can do that.” Or better yet, “Yes you can do that yourself.” The dominant activity during the latter stages of my careers and during retirement has been in depth research regarding the design and implementation of flexible computer systems. In 2005 my colleagues and I published a book on this subject.