[olug] Computer Room Fire Suppression

[Bill Brush]

On Wed, Jun 1, 2011 at 12:15 PM, Sam Tetherow <tetherow at shwisp.net> wrote:
> If a public entity is closed due to a disaster and there is no loss of
> 'product' then why not close the public entity permanently and save everyone
> some money?
>

There is loss of product, but how do you measure that loss?  99% of
public entities provide a service.  Doesn't matter how well or how
poorly they provide that service because their revenue is not
connected to their customer's satisfaction.  If you get poor service
at the Athletics commission office, is that going to materially impact
their revenue?  No.  You either deal with them or you don't, they get
paid regardless.  Same with public school, use it or don't, they get
your money regardless.

> Public sector jobs are just like any other job, they get paid to produce a
> product or service, there is just less accountability in a public sector job
> apparently.  But any manager/director that has this type of attitude is
> guilty of negligence at best and theft from the tax payers at worst.
>

Public sector management is not like private sector managment.  In the
private sector, a manager has the ability to provide the carrot or the
stick for his employees (metaphorically).  In the public sector, they
frequently don't have either.  So they have responsibility with little
authority.  So their focus changes from "how can I run this place
optimally" to "how can I run this place to avoid the greatest amount
of risk".    Less risk, less chance of an adverse outcome, which means
they are happy.  Their feedback mechanisms are also different from the
private sector.  In the private sector a manager wants to maximize
their productivity and profitablility.  In the public sector there is
no profitability factor so increasing "what you do" usually leads to
increasing staff, which means more budget, which means more prestige
among peers.

I am not bashing the managers, they are operating in the environment
they find themselves.  There's not a lot anyone can do to change that
environment.  It is a product of the incentives and motivations
created by the strictures creating it.

> This is not a rant against any one person (unless they actually believe
> Bill's non-cynical answer).
>

:-)

> Every business should have a business continuity plan.  That doesn't mean
> that every business can implement that continuity plan, but it should be in
> writing, these are the risks, these are the steps that need to be taken when
> this happens and these are the things we could do better if we had the time
> and the money to implement them.  There are always places where you make
> compromises in your disaster plans because the cost outweighs the risk.  But
> they should still be documented and justified.
>

I don't think it would be surprising to find that most businesses
don't have a BC plan any more than they have integral I.T. support.
The difference is that a public entity will survive such an event
where a private entity won't.

Bill