[itdiscuss] mac or PC?

Tue Sep 16 18:23:26 EDT 2008

I think it is important for every department- and every employee to  
have a mission statement.
So important - that we make each write theirs when they come on board...

Have you done this?

The Mission of the IT Department is what?

To Empower and facilitate those in ministry here at ______ to  
Evangelize, Disciple and Care for those God places in our path.

(or what is yours? )

IT Exists to Empower those doing ministry.   Period.

Is the mission of the IT Staff to create a program to make their lives  
easier even if it gets in the way or hampers the ability of those they  
are supporting to Do Ministry?

Granger was started with a couple with a Dream from God... and then  
grew to 10 people with a Dream from God...

Mark and Sheila have never changed their focus; to grow a church for  
people who say church is too boring, too intimidating or just not  
relevant to their stressed-out, hyper-speed lives. And, to this day  
people still ask them this question “Why bother? There are plenty of  
churches around.” Their answer is the same, again and again; “People  
matter to God. Even if they don’t know it yet. So we’re going to meet  
them in their comfort zone, with Biblical teaching and messages that  
deal with their everyday challenges, hopes and heartbreaks. And we’re  
going to communicate using ways in ways they can relate–movies, books,  
music, media and drama. Because we believe God is present in all  
things, at all times. You just have to open your eyes.”

If a MAC empowers the pastor to Evangelize, Disciple and Care for  
people in their comfort zone - then bottom line you should support it.

If the PC is causing an impairment to the pastor to complete these  
tasks ... then remove that issue at once.

If an office administrator were to walk in and tell me - Pastor - you  
can no longer use the roller-ball gel pens you like so much...
I would not care the reason.

When I sit down to write my sermons - these make it easier.   Do you  
have a favorite Pen?

For some the PC is much the same.

Have you ever sat down at a keyboard that just feels funny?

Imagine if the Sound Crew decide to tell the pastor - Hey use this  
microphone vs. the one you like - the one that is comfortable...
Why ?

Because its easier for us to maintain...

I had this happen - and I had to use a wireless microphone - that got  
in my way - vs a headset...
Guess where that thing went..

I posted to the blog - I see the role of an IT Person different.
Their job is to facilitate those in ministry.    And ...

the Senior Pastor is much like the Chief Executive of a corporation -

Could you imagine someone telling the CEO @ PolyCom or Cisco they  
could not use a MAC - or had to use This brand of PC?

Having walked those waters - as a CEO of a well known large corporate  
Hosting Company I can tell you what I would have said ....

I have good news and bad news for you - which do you want first.?

Good news - you now have some extra time on your hands - bad news is -  
it comes without pay.

I have watched this thing happen and unfold in the past over silly  
issues.

The Job of IT is simple - to Support the Infrastructure needed to  
complete the tasks at hand.

using a MAC does not hurt your network... And while it might make it a  
little bit more difficult to track some things down to a user level  
(ie - you need to know the mac addy instead)
it is not impossible.

Facilitate - and don't get in the way.

What is the mission statement ?

A unique view from a pastor and IT Person

Pastor Glenn Kelley :  Unboxed Church
& Operations Director - The Vine Network.

On Sep 16, 2008, at 10:32 AM, Kevin Brunson wrote:

> I agree with the post on there that he should let his IT staff do  
> their job.  If the IT department can support mac and pc on the  
> network equally, with the same functional experience on either, and  
> they really don’t care what he gets (which I doubt), then maybe it  
> is okay for a public discussion.  The comment that his old mac was  
> “secreted away somewhere” makes me think that the network is  
> designed for pc, which means he should run a pc.  But I post this  
> here instead of there because this should be a technical decision,  
> not a personal or business decision, as much as BOTH sides (apple or  
> Microsoft) would tell you otherwise.  The commercials that say “buy  
> me because I will make your life complete” are only valid for home  
> users.  In the workplace, you don’t get a personal choice, even if  
> you are the senior pastor.  You get the choice that makes the most  
> sense.  Whether that is mac or pc, it is a decision that needs to be  
> made by the people that are QUALIFIED to make it.  Even the most  
> powerful  “power user” is nowhere near qualified to make decisions  
> about what will integrate with the network better.  In the church  
> world in particular, this is a huge thing.  In big business, where  
> there is lots of cash floating around just to make executives happy,  
> they can afford to integrate lots of systems into a semi-functional  
> network.  In the church world, the mandate is “be good stewards”  
> which means “take limited resources and stretch them to the breaking  
> point”.  And when I say resources, I mean both money and employee  
> time.  The most effective way of doing that is to get as many users  
> as possible in a homogenous environment.
>
> I think there are some people on here who feel like I’m preaching to  
> the choir, and some people would totally disagree.  But IT does not  
> exist to make people happy, IT exists to make people as happy as  
> possible while maintaining maximum efficiency.  When the network is  
> well-designed, stable, and efficient, everyone is happy, even if  
> they have to use a computer that doesn’t fit their personal  
> preference.  But when the network is a hodgepodge of disparate  
> systems, it is hard to keep anyone happy, even if they all happen to  
> be using their own preferred platform.
>
> Part of the reason people get paid to work is so they can do what  
> they want in their own time.  If someone doesn’t like the computer  
> they have at work and wants to use something else at home, they are  
> provided with a way of doing that.
>
> Kevin Brunson
> Senior Systems Engineer
> Higher Ground Technologies
> 901-333-7777
>
>
>
> From: discuss-bounces at itdiscuss.org [mailto:discuss-bounces at itdiscuss.org 
> ] On Behalf Of Jason Powell
> Sent: Monday, September 15, 2008 10:42 PM
> To: IT Discussion Forum
> Subject: [itdiscuss] mac or PC?
>
> Apparently our senior pastor is looking for public advice on Mac vs.  
> PC …
>
> http://www.markbeeson.com/mark_beeson/2008/09/how-much-longer-will-i-tolerate-my-laptop.html
>
> Pro/Con … please weigh in as you see fit.
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