I've found myself in a challenging situation where the management of our network has been mishandled for years, leading to a poor reputation for our IT department. I know the technical solutions required to make things better, but I'm struggling with how to win over the support of our stakeholders. The security lapses we've suffered have already resulted in a few breaches, making this an urgent priority.
3 Answers
It's important to keep a positive approach and focus on what you aim to accomplish instead of dwelling on past mistakes. Blaming predecessors isn't a great look, especially since we can’t know their circumstances. Just remember, your future successor will also have their own opinion on your work!
It sounds like you've really got your work cut out for you. A big part of fixing the reputation is addressing management issues head-on, especially if those from the old management are still around. If you focus on improving the environment rather than pointing fingers at people, that might help build some goodwill. Consider creating a risk register to help prioritize the issues, along with a proposed budget and timeline to present to your manager. Show tangible outcomes to illustrate your progress, and tackle some easy wins first to gain support for the bigger changes later.
That's a solid plan! Documenting the issues and creating clear goals is key. The management will definitely appreciate seeing progress tracked visually, like vulnerability counts going down or user satisfaction improving.
You're in a tough spot, and changes won't happen overnight. It's great that you're focusing on thoughtful updates to the IT infrastructure. Keeping users happy with quick, effective fixes can really make a difference in changing their perception. Just curious, are you handling this all by yourself?
No, luckily I have two coworkers with me. One's been here for five years and has a lot of insight into the current network state, while the other is brand new to IT.
I get what you're saying. It can be tough when you're dealing with the aftermath of issues that you didn’t create. Just focusing on fixing security sounds like a great start!