[itdiscuss] mac or PC?

[Jeffrey Thompson]

Amen Bro.

On Sep 16, 2008, at 4:33 PM, Stephen Ollis wrote:

> I don’t deny that we in IT have a good closet full of asbestos  
> suits.  But I think you misunderstand where I’m coming from..
>
> What I am saying is that there is no such thing as a “PC Network” or  
> a “MAC Network”; there are PC-skilled IT departments, or MAC-skilled  
> IT departments, and some (like mine) which have had, under duress I  
> might add, become both. And yes, it required expenditure on Mac  
> servers, Mac desktops/laptops and a good chunk of time in training,  
> learning, and documenting the differences. I’m actually here up at  
> 0430AM in Sydney making changes to the configuration of our core  
> NetCache proxy so that it doesn’t do NTLM anymore so that it will  
> support MACS cleanly..
>
> No, of course there has not been a drop in support calls; a user  
> will have issues regardless of what client platform they fly.  
> However, WE HAVE seen an increase in user happiness, especially from  
> our Senior and Exec level staff. And this is where the low-hanging  
> fruit is. If you can show that “IT wants to make it as easy for you”  
> to the Executive and Snr Pastors, then you win. If you’re not at a  
> place where you can effectively hire / recruit / train someone to be  
> Mac capable then be open and honest and explain that THAT is why you  
> won’t support Macs. Don’t handwave it away and blame it on the  
> network, or the servers or the client platforms; it’s a training /  
> skill issue at its very root.
>
> Yes, I get requests on a daily basis from my users, and I STRONGLY  
> ENCOURAGE IT. And yes, we have more vision than resource. I’m not  
> kidding about 6 support people looking after 1500 users. Our  
> helpdesk runs hot, and we’re constantly getting demands from the  
> Eloi that us Morlocks can’t deliver on. It doesn’t give me the right  
> to look my Senior Pastor in the eye and say “NO”, it just gives me  
> the right to say “We can and would love to, but this is what we need  
> to make it happen.”
>
> Again, please hear my heart here; I live in the trenches as much as  
> the next guy. What I’m saying is that we, as Church IT staff, need  
> to correctly represent the issues to our leadership (training/ 
> personnel/HR) and not sweep this stuff under the carpet under the  
> guise of Technocracy. More and more, our Senior people will believe  
> the marketing hype from Apple, or hear of another church IT team  
> that does support Mac and PC and whatever.. and then you’re going to  
> be on the back foot. I know it for a fact that many Pastors have  
> gone home from visiting with us here at Hillsong, telling their IT/ 
> Video/Production guys that “Hillsong is doing so-and-so, why can’t  
> we?” because then I get to counsel/comfort/console them over the  
> phone or email, and showing the hows and whys. I don’t apologize for  
> being on the bleeding edge, but I am very clear about the level of  
> sacrifice, and cost, that is has taken to get my team to this point,  
> and the level of support, both financial and physical, that is  
> needed from a senior level to accomplish it. And that is where IT  
> gets to shine: when the IT team delivers the gear that supports and  
> propels forward the vision of your Senior Pastor.
>

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