Why do IT professionals always blame eachother

thescouselander

I've had a couple of problems recently where various bits of IT aren't quite compatible with each other. Why is it though, when you try to get someone to fix the issue, IT support staff will always blame the other system.

For example, at work we have difficulties emailing another organisation because of a compatibility issue between the email systems. IT support on either side are blaming each other because the other system "isn't implemented properly".

Now as a Systems Engineer I am familiar with the problems of getting things to work with each other and the inevitable differences in interpretation regarding standards etc.

Where I work we accept there is a compatibility issue and go about fixing it. By contrast, in the world of IT, it's always the other guys fault. What is it about the IT profession that means they must always pass the buck instead of helping the customer out? It just ends up in rubbish service for the customer.

Fire_Fox

Same reason council employees always blame a different department and flat out refuse to liaise. :wall:

keyser666

I dont buy that you have difficulties with emailing another organisation because of a compatibility issue between Email systems

Print_Screen

I don't buy it as well. What incompatibility?
SMTP and port 25 that is the standard for most non encrypted email.
I have only once met a problem due to "incompatibility" and that was because the ISP of one of the clients we were dealing with flat out blocked port 25:eek: No redirection of any sort just blocked so no emails for that client until that was sorted.

kuohu

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

thescouselander

Print_Screen wrote: »

I don't buy it as well. What incompatibility?
SMTP and port 25 that is the standard for most non encrypted email.
I have only once met a problem due to "incompatibility" and that was because the ISP of one of the clients we were dealing with flat out blocked port 25:eek: No redirection of any sort just blocked so no emails for that client until that was sorted.

Well the systems are certainly not standard. Both systems in question are secured using various (and complicated) means and are a mix of SMTP and X400. I dont know the exact details of what the incompatibility is but both sides agree that an incompatibility exists and its the other sides fault.

That's not the only example anyway. I'm currently having it out with Panasonic because their Andriod App for controlling their TV's does not work. They claimed it is a network issue at my end but I can see clearly using Wireshark that the application does not generate any network traffic at all. They also tried to say it was googles fault because Android has a bug in it. Basically its anyone's problem but theirs. Strange that a third party app with similar functionality works perfectly on the same device.

Esqui

Almost certainly because they have no idea why it doesn't work

One of my colleagues is really bad for that - if we've worked on something and it's still not quite right, then I'll get the blame, even if he doesn't know what's wrong.

System

I would suggest one of the guys passing the buck is right and the other one is an idiot.

It sounds like one of the two systems has a problem and the system that is right can't fix the broken system.

It's not just IT though. Everyone tries to blame someone else

paddyrg

IT systems are wickedly complicated, especially with nonstandard implementations. The tiniest of things can cause problems, and it takes real skill and will to resolve them, needing expensive skilled engineers.

CFO's however see IT departments as pure costs, and work on the basis that anything they don't understand must be simple. There is no way to explain that there is a subtle interop problem between two systems because they can see their AOL account, so all must be OK... So the best you can probably do is yet another layer of bodge and submit your own thedailywtf.com entry

Having tried to do something similar to what you're upto getting all email traffic between the <@company1.com> and <@companeis 2,3,4 etc.com> domains encrypted at source, I feel your pain. Companies 2,3,4... were all non-technical and had had their systems installed by somebody's son who was 'good at computers' - needless to say, the intricacies of TLS at corporate Exchange level were beyond them...

asylumdweller

I too run into these compatibilities at work. As I come across them I fix or put in some sort of work-around. However, I frequently come across the situation whereby whoever originally created the other sides system(s) has since left the company without being replaced by someone as competent, and those left treat the orphaned system as a black box. I wouldn't be surprised if that happens where I work as well. Whoever is brought as my replacement will inevitably be the cheapest and so loaded with tasks that he/she won't be allowed time to really learn the existing systems.

I used to live in Canada; there almost all IT people were university grads in either comp sci or maths. Here, it's more vocational and the difference screams through. The IT guys where I work, nice as they are, simply do not possess the general geeky computer/IT knowledge required for today's systems. I think this is the general case.

vyle

thescouselander wrote: »

That's not the only example anyway. I'm currently having it out with Panasonic because their Andriod App for controlling their TV's does not work. They claimed it is a network issue at my end but I can see clearly using Wireshark that the application does not generate any network traffic at all. They also tried to say it was googles fault because Android has a bug in it. Basically its anyone's problem but theirs. Strange that a third party app with similar functionality works perfectly on the same device.

Not entirely to do with the main thread, but im currently using the android app with no issue with my ST50 on my galaxy S2.... what version of the viera remote are you using, for what tv, and what handset? I trust you're not running it in demo mode are you?