The following message is a courtesy copy of an article that has been posted to bit.listserv.ibm-main,alt.folklore.computers as well.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Doc Farmer) writes: > You're standing in the right place - the author, however, is not. While he > brings up valid points, these are correctable by good project management and > more User ownership of (and responsibility for) their applications and data. re: http://blogs.zdnet.com/projectfailures/?p=666 the argument in the 80s (somewhat related to desktop systems) ... in one of the earlier iterations of this discussion were 1) computer technology was becoming significantly more pervasive 2) there wasn't enuf skill base to support the rapidly expanding uses 3) had to change the paradigm so users could handle much of their own support. there was some parallels drawn with the examples of the automobile industry when every automobile required at least one professional chauffeur/mechanic or the telephone industry where all phone calls were connected manually by a human telephone operator. an earlier iteration of this was in the huge explosion in midrange market ... the 43xx and vax machines ... while 43xx may have actually sold more machines, there were SHARE studies that vax/vms had competitive advantage because of lower requirement for (scarce) human effort/skill required for care & feeding (of course by the mid-80s, PCs and workstations were starting to gobble up the mid-range market from the low end). in this country ... part of the issue has been that there has been scarcity of homegrown skill base for some time ... mitigated by large influx of foreigners. recently more & more of these skills have been returning home ... contributing to the outsourcing activity. combination of outsourcing and foreign workers existed all through (at least) the 90s ... some what coming to a crunch with a combination of both the y2k remediation activity and the internet bubble going on at the same time. a large amount of y2k remediation was outsourced, in part because it was viewed as one-shot activity ... however, it resulted in the creation of business relationships that persisted after the remediation had finished. In core legacy systems, the greener pastures of the internet bubble siphoned off some amount of resources. Going into this century, the internet bubble burst and lots were looking for other safe havens ... at the same time, outsourcing operations had been able to demonstrate core legacy competency with their y2k remediation work. recent thread that 20 or so yrs ago, numerous had realized math/science skills contributed to economy activity ... and recent study calculated the effect on the economy of the education system being unable to deliver those skills http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008e.html#61 Study Finds Sharp Math, Science Skills Help Expand Economy http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008e.html#63 Study Finds Sharp Math, Science Skills Help Expand Economy http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008f.html#22 Study Finds Sharp Math, Science Skills Help Expand Economy http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008f.html#70 Study Finds Sharp Math, Science Skills Help Expand Economy the US now coming in with rankings like 29 out of 30 industrial countries ... recent posts: http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007u.html#78 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007u.html#80 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007u.html#82 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007v.html#16 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007v.html#19 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007v.html#20 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007v.html#38 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007v.html#39 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007v.html#44 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007v.html#45 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007v.html#51 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2007v.html#71 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008.html#52 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008.html#55 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008.html#60 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008.html#62 competitiveness http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008.html#81 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008.html#83 Education ranking http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008b.html#6 Science and Engineering Indicators 2008 http://www.garlic.com/~lynn/2008b.html#13 Education ranking ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
