The crime of Avarice....The 2018 AZ primaries and bad IT

It seems that perhaps the laissez-faire attitude toward corporate IT training may finally be coming home to roost.

In the recent 2018 Primary elections in Arizona there was a serious issue with the deployment of voting technology in Maricopa County.  As many as 62 voting sites were affected with estimates of over 100,000 voters being inconvenienced or worse.

For the project, Tempe's Insight (A large IT products and services company) was chosen as the primary contractor.   After looking over this article and supporting sources it seems fairly clear to me what went wrong.

In short....  

Inadequate training, bad management and an over-reliance on outsourcing led to a debacle that will likely end in the courts when all is said and done.

The passage below from the cited article states what I believe to be the crux of the issue.  It relates what a contracted tech experienced during the deployment.

"... training of subcontractors mirrored Insight's "regular" employee training consisting of watching a 15 minute video and a multi-page instruction sheet that was to be printed out.   In addition technicians were required to view another video on the use of Insight's  SmartPhone APP which was clearly identified as being in BETA.   In other words, not in final WORKING form.  This "APP" was to be the "preferred" means of communicating and managing assigned jobs.

At no point in this process was any other training provided to the subcontractors meaning technicians unfamiliar with both the equipment and Maricopa County election procedure were expected to somehow "magically" set up a site without ever having touched the equipment they were responsible for.  The backup plan, that same printed instructional document and vague references to a support hierarchy which as we now know was insufficient."

It's fairly obvious in this all too familiar accounting of the technician's experience that  training was woefully inadequate to the task at hand.  Not to mention support and communication channels.

I've seen this movie so often over the past few decades that I won't even pretend to be surprised.

It takes me back to the days of the "paper certified" IT professional whose training was limited ( by design ) to little more than was necessary to pass the certification exam.  Leading to individuals ill prepared for the challenges they'd face outside of the ideal scenario.

Yes, education is a personal responsibility but when your business model depends on having people ready for what you're going to throw at them you don't leave it to chance.

Or a training video...  IBM started doing that in the 90's and guess what, they don't sell computers any more.

If it's that important you'd better be sure everyone's on the same page.  Unless what Maricopa County saw on Election day is your idea of success.

I'll be honest, my personal opinion of Insight has never been very high.  They evolved from the same swamp that birthed 1000 other flaky computer part vendors back in the 80's.  By the time they became "legitimate" and changed their name to Insight I was just beginning my professional IT career and already wary of them.   

My every brush since has been an experience in either frustration, arrogance or incompetence.  Sometimes all 3 at once.

But then, what can you expect from a business founded on the principles of undercutting the competition at all costs.  

Google Hard Drives International if you want a history lesson on the company's roots.  Not exactly shining.

In any case it appears to me that Insight was once again more interested in profit than doing the job right.  Their defense?  "We're not responsible." 

Look suited morons...

You don't send a tech to something as important as a polling place armed only with inadequate training from a 15 minute video and flaky smartphone app.  

Add to it inconsistencies in the command hierarchy, failed communication channels and scheduling chaos and you get the mess we see here.

All the tenets of a company that puts no value in training, planning or project management.

What's ironic is that such "training" these days is actually considered generous compared to the status quo. 

Worry about nothing but the bottom line and you get bottom of the barrel.  

Insight, don't expect quality if you aren't willing to invest in what it takes to get the job done and that ISN'T a 15 minute video and abandonment of your field techs.

What it IS, is investing in adequate training that includes hands on labs and a firm grasp of the escalation tree (among other things) long BEFORE election day.

A new perspective on old Operating systems

I see a lot of uproar over Operating systems lately. 

Not the normal Windows versus Mac versus Linux fare.  No, the wailing starts around the time an older version is no longer supported meaning no further updates are produced for it and every request for help is met with the maddening phrase...

"Upgrade to the newer version."

Now truth be told, we rarely hear anyone complaining much about the abandonment of an old version of Mac OSX or a Linux distribution.  Devotees of those platforms are usually breathlessly awaiting the next release. 

It's usually the Windows world that complains the most and with good reason.  Their customer base is always wary of a new Microsoft release especially if it follows a successful predecessor.  That's because success is usually followed by failure.  A short review of recent history bears that out..

• Windows 2003/Windows XP - Stable, easy to manage and user friendly at least after the first service packs.
• Windows Vista - I don't care what Paul Thurott says, it was/is slow and almost completely unusable before service pack 2.  Microsoft's "my way or the highway" stance didn't help it gain many fans either.  It's the reason why Windows XP only recently entered obsolescence.
• Windows 7 - Everything Vista should have been and for many the worthy successor to XP.
• Windows 8 - A sign of things to come in interface design but a bit too much too soon.  Great for tablets but lousy on anything without a touch screen. 

So the trend is evident.  Expect the release of a successful Microsoft product to be immediately followed by a failure. 

Perhaps a change of perspective is needed here.

Operating systems are just "products" and products have a shelf life.  That means after a certain amount of time they go "bad."

So I'm proposing we think of operating systems in the same way we think about cars. 

When you buy a new car you can expect that for at least 5 years you're going to have full support from the factory that made it.  Any little thing that goes wrong will be quickly and cheerfully rectified and you can bet that all the latest features will be there for the taking.

Now moving past that 5 year mark we're getting into the realm of "mature" products.  You may still have a warranty but you're going to find that if the sun visor falls off it's going to be fixed but it's probably going to be on your dime.  If the engine blows up, however, it'll probably be covered.  Don't expect any feature updates from the factory though.  They've moved on to this year's model which more likely than not isn't much different than yours so there's no real compelling reason to "upgrade."

Once we get to 10 years you now own an old car.  You're probably not visiting the dealer to get it repaired anymore mostly because it's too expensive.  If you hold on to it you've either got a trusted mechanic close to home or you've suddenly taken an interest in automotives.

Over 10 years and the words "End of Life" start showing up.  At this point you're into legacy status and the factory could care less about your car.  If you really like the car you'll find all sorts of "aftermarket" parts and services to keep it running.  Chances are the factory and dealer won't be able to do much for you at this point. 

I think the model works pretty well for operating systems too.  At some point you have to accept that nothing is forever.  A 12 year old operating system is like a 12 year old car.  Obsolete, poorly supported by its maker and dependent on an "aftermarket" to support it.  There's nothing wrong with the aftermarket so long as they have good standing but it's a roll of the dice.  Also know that just as an old car may not have the safety features or fuel efficiency of a new model, an old OS may not be as secure or perform as well as a newer one.

So run Windows XP or MAC OSX Tiger if you want, just know that from now on you're going to be on your own.