After a long and distinguished career of
listening to and advising IT shops on products and strategies, Dan
Kusnetzky, IDC vice president of system research, has come to realize a
few unalterable truths. Below he shares a bit of wit and wisdom about
the unofficial (although some are likely posted on the walls of IT
shops) Golden Rules of IT.
Rule Number One: If it is not broken, do not fix it.
Rule Number Two: Don't touch it; you'll probably break it.
Rule Number Three: If you do touch it and break it, it will likely
take longer to fix and cost more to fix and you may have to take people
out of retirement to fix it, so see Rule Number Two.
Rule Number Four: Good enough is good enough. If you strive for
excellence then by the time you get there it is probably not needed
anymore.
Rule Number Five: Do not touch anything until people are screaming.
If they are NOT screaming, see Rule Number two. If they are screaming
see both Rule Number Two and Rule Number Three.