Is My IT Dept Accurate of Full of It?

Bilbo, how did you get a look at the Official IT Rulebook? Give that back right now, before the pointy-haired boss catches you with it.

If IT is the same as it is here and there's a bias for sticking to the project management structures, it's hard to get anything accomplished. "No" really means "go through the right channels". Which isn't to say that a dozen Krispy Kreme donuts can't get you nearly anything you want if you know whose cubicle to deliver said donuts...

The comments about webex further upthread are right on. The OP probably doesn't have anything running on the corporate network that uses the kind of bandwidth that SL does. If they use videoconferencing, they may be able to point to the videoconferencing as being a something similar, but webex itself isn't a huge bandwidth eater. Most of the heavy stuff from a typical webex session is audio, and you're doing that over a phone line. That's part of the problem you're going to run into with your IT department... this is unprecedented for your company, and it's not in their IT rulebook.

I think the quoted message covers that pretty well. There's no indication that they didn't do exactly what you prescribe, consulted with management (the same kind of folks YOU answer to.. the ones who control the money), management said "no more money right now", and they pushed back with this.

That's the way it works in most medium to large businesses. If the person/group making the request wants to change that outcome, there is usually a process involved, which probably means they have to stump up the money out of their own budget for the requisite upgrades and coordinate with the IT department to make it happen. In large organizations, that probably means a LOT of money and an implementation plan which can take a while to schedule, let alone complete.

I'm making a (big) assumption that Pilgram has an approved project, with an approved budget.

If this is just an ad-hoc thing, okay - yup - all bets are off

Still though - I dont understand why this would *require* an infrastructure change. I suppose it depends on Pilgram's requirements - but if you could segregate a lab environment off with 10PC's, and connect them to the outside with a DSL router.... that might be an inexpensive way of solving the problem.

One of the big things I learned while consulting for a big company is that they are often paranoid about how anything inside their premises is connected to anything outside. What you suggest is often heresy to them, and in many cases, rightfully so.

Even still, you're not going to be able to put 10 concurrent SL connections on a DSL line; it just can't handle the bandwidth. I have a fairly good DSL line, and it struggles with just a couple people on it simultaneously. One person teleports, and the other starts lagging.

Hehe - my favorite character has the same first name as me - "I won't do it, and you can't make me !!!"

Also, bandwidth in SL is variable. depending on settings and where you hang out. I'm on satellite internet, with a daily bandwidth cap, if I allowed SL to download at my maximum of 1 mbps, I'd be capped after 45 mins. (so, no more streaming pr0n *sigh*)

So, when I tp somewhere I let things rez, then slide my bandwidth back down to 50 kbps - works pretty well for me.

Hehe - if all my sexual encounters occur solely in IM, it's not because I'm romantic...just bandwidth challenged *grin*

I thought the default IT response was "Have you tried turning it off then on again?".

Rather scarily I have a female boss who is more interested in shoes than IT.

And a goth in a cupboard?

She has her priorities straight, I think.

Well in the next office who are our sister team and listens to radio abbatoir all day. When that show came out we cringed!

Oh and we do often say "Turn it off and on again".

There's a comedy show in the UK and it's so close to the IT dept I work in that it's not even funny! The only thing we're missing is the drunken Irish guy ... I'm only half Irish

If your ISP has trouble Running a smooth Connection with just one person logged into a graphics rich streaming environment like SL, the problems WILL be multiplied by having five, or Ten users from the Same location. Now if you are trying to run on Line Business applications at the Same time, Yes, their performance Will Suffer. This is an issue your IT department can take up with the ISP, and getting greater bandwidth for your company isn't that complicated. It will probably cost a little more, so you will have to justify the expenditure by being able to Balance it against potential gains brought about by a presence in SL.

Angel.

Some interesting comments here.

The reasons I abandoned using SL for an attempt at promoting my real life business was issues with security, compliance, and most important of all what I believe to be the attitude of other SL residents insomuch as a substantial minority regard SL as a true second escape type life away from real life.

In much the same way as many folk have a dislike of WoW gold sellers, people come here to escape from first life.

There are some first life organisations that "port" across. In my own opinion Reuters, Dell Island, and perhaps religion are some examples

So, my point is that first life business should be pretty sure there is an established need for their services against this background. And from practical viewpoints I would have thought the best way of connecting would be via dedicated equipment and connections, especially bearing in mind the security risks one example being the current Apple movie stream issues.

My IT phylosophy is that no department of a company need to get access to internet, unless it is vital for their function and then it will still be seriously under control.

1. Filtered HTTP Proxy

2. URL Filtering
You need access to the bank website? sure, will do.
Myspace? can't do.

3. No ports open inbound or outbound unless for critical company needs.


As for the settings for the IT department, it's a whole different story, after all we know what we are doing

Best idea is ask them to monitor one client, including streaming video and audio.

If they will be hosting their own audio/video streams those need to be accounted for as well, both for average and peak sim capacity.

A rough estimate of peak usage should be easy, and then management can decide if they want to check feasibility in more detail, come up with alternatives, and once they have expected costs decide if it's worth doing.

For what it's worth, I have 3 computers here in my home office. At any given time one, two, or all three are running SL at the same time, sometimes with multiple instances running on the more powerful desktop. E-mail, browsing, and Internet related functions have never been affected in any way by SL's presence, even if it's running on all 3 at once. And that's just a on a consumer grade connection with a $60 router.

Surely if a home connection can handle three without blinking, a business grade setup could handle 10 (probably a lot more). It really shouldn't be an issue.

Yes, SL uses more bandwidth than many other applications. But I seriously doubt it uses so much that it would be a problem for a business.

I agree with Conan's earlier assessment. These guys just don't want to have to do the work to set it up. Buy them a pizza and a couple of six packs, and I bet they'll change their tune.

Then all they'll do is want sex.

Oh, Brenda..

They're going to want sex anyway. Its right at the top of the IT Hierarchy of Needs!

The best way to get your IT department to OK any bandwidth upgrades required for SL is obviously to introduce them to the sexgen store.

Next step will be Xcite tee shirts IRL and Torley Linden rubber stress busters to throw at each other.

Yeay! SecondLife goes corporate!! .....

Likewise: and those here who say that big-iron companies won't notice the bandwidth and small to mediums will suffer have it back-asswards. Very large companies (say 100,000 seats) tend to have older networks and are strongly resistent to upgrading them because common office activities are in fact exceedingly low bandwidth; 10 Mbit ethernet is enough. They also view web access as a privilege not a right, and get far higher usage ratios out of their connections because they run internal, filtering proxies (very often, the hardest-working machines in a big corporate server room).

When people show me IT teams who are, shall we say, poorly aligned with the demands of the operational divisions, I tend not to look for autistic nerds: instead I take a look at how draconian and hangdog the finance team are. Very often, finance directors get booted around by profit centres, and can't fight back - except by squeezing IT resources, and leaving the Nerds to take the message back to the operating divisions that nothing gets done outside this year's budget. IT people who are fending off work or opportunities are very often doing so on someone else's behalf, who should in fact be sitting in the meetings.

I like the idea that the 10 people keeping up an SL presence are on their own external pipeline; not hard to do, technically, and easily grown/controlled. Though if you are in a BIG corporate you may find that relations between finance and IT are so dysfunctional that the IT guys try to hang another ATM Frame Relay head-end on your budget for half a mil a year, because that's what they bought last time round and if they show it can be done more cheaply their asses will get kicked...

D'oh! Businesses don't have connections unless they have a use for that connection. If my business connection is already full of e-commerce traffic that earns me money and keeps those orders moving, then unless you can show a solid connection between your megabytes of traffic, and some fresh megabucks, you can get off my line!

Whether the link from the office is TECHNICALLY capable of carrying SL isn't even the start of the discussion!

I agree with that in full.

Last year I checked my bandwidth usage. I figured it was roughly 100mb per hour just in SL, if I was doing a lot of stuff- traveling around, meeting people or whatever. This was with my bandwidth maximum slider set halfway (750k in my case).

On a single corporate island I imagine it will be much lower, but it could be as high as 1gb per hour with 10 people all doing stuff. 8gb for a regular day.

News at 11. Thank you for tuning in. Today's top story, faint chanting, "We will, We will rock you", was heard today coming from the elusive IT cave. While other sightings have been seen, predominantly when clients are around, the question still remains... "Has anyone seen the IT guy's?" Bob, who hs been covering the story for a few months now, stated that he feels the IT guys have primitive skills and are elusive to actual work. He also stated that the sightings have been brief but effective as they walk back to the cave carrying a magazine and coffee.......

If you too have seen your IT guy, PLEASE contact Bob and tell him your story at:

(000)1IT-REAL or at his website hppt://www.wherethehellaretheflippingitguys.wth





Sighting one of my company's IT guys is about as rare as running into the Loch Ness Monster in your backyard pool....

Let me tell you a story about IT departments and their bone-chilling incompetence. A colleague of mine was offered the role of assistant IT support manager. The boss then gave his short, fat anti-social nephew the job instead. When trying to "fix" another colleagues computer, this individual managed to change the application associated with MS Access database files from MS Access to MS Paint. He then couldn't figure how to change it back. His boss, the IT support manager himself, spent an hour and a half on it, and still couldn't fix it. The colleague who should have had the job in the first place fixed it in 4 clicks - as any normal person could.

I fear for my life.