April 23, 2012, 10:31 AM — Every IT shop has its own way of doing things, but one thread ties them together: They all feel as though they have more work to do than can possibly be accomplished in the allotted time. Experts seem to think the economy is thawing out a bit, and some IT departments are starting to increase headcount, but in most cases staffing levels are just now starting to reach levels they should have hit years ago, falling short of current needs.
A good chunk of what I write about here on InfoWorld are infrastructure management tasks that I consistently see left behind in the wreckage of ambitious application rollout schedules. Though implementation timetables may be met, the price of skimping on good, old-fashioned infrastructure management and planning often gets paid later -- in the form of infrastructure instability, avoidable human error, and unnecessary trips to the corner office for capital or contract labor.
If you're responsible for enterprise IT infrastructure, take a look at this list and see how you stack up. If you're on top of everything, count yourself extremely lucky, but if you aren't, don't feel too bad. You're in good company.
