IT’s Conflicting Goals: The Data Center vs. Software Development
Based on the title above, you are probably thinking I’m about to say bad things about IT. Wrong! Conflicting goals within IT are in many ways a very good thing. If managed correctly, positive conflict can create motivated employees, innovative solutions, and cost-effective, high-quality results.
There is an enormous amount of activity and technical enhancement going on in data centers nationwide these days. There also has been much discussion and movement within the software development profession related to development products and software methodology.
One thing that has not changed, however, is the friendly conflict between the data center and software development. On the data center side, the goals are based on cost reduction, server consolidation, green computing, and other related efficiencies. None of these data center goals, however, are related to providing the programming team with unlimited physical servers and computer power.
On the software people side, programmers are continually looking for more computer power, unlimited disk space, the highest possible data communication speeds, and multiple environments.
The conflict is that the programmers always want more and the data center people always want less. The thing is that both sides of this issue are right. Fast computer power and the ability to create new development environments on the fly can dramatically increase programmers' productivity. The data center people are also right to march toward reducing their expenses and carbon footprint because it’s good for the company—and for the world.
Certainly, data center virtualization and movement toward private cloud technologies are helping to bring the two sides together, but at a conceptual level, the conflict still remains. So what can IT leadership and those with their hands on the keyboards and power buttons do to minimize these and other conflicts?
From an IT leadership perspective, the creation of specific guidelines and rules of engagement convert these conflicts into non-political, procedure-based decisions. For those at lower organizational levels, the combination of negotiation skills and conflict resolution skills can help you get what you need and not lose all of your friends in the process.
These types of soft skills training—namely negotiation and conflict resolution—have great value in the workplace. They can help you move toward constructive and innovative solutions that help IT meet its overall goals and business commitments. However, these skills are also of great value to you personally. After all, people are people—both at home and at work.
The same negotiation skills that get you the computer power you need in the office will help you negotiate a better price on your next car. The same conflict resolution skills that bring the hardware and software together on your next project can also be used when working out a difficult issue with a personal friend.
