I work for a large government agency with a large IT department. I, however, am in another department. I've successfully self-trained to the point I am developing complex queries across different databases -- SQL Server, mainly, with some Oracle and legacy systems. I'm using Analysis Services, uploading data-driven subscriptions to Reporting Services, and doing other IT-type things for our department (yes, I do document my code and try to use Best Practices in all of these areas. I read a LOT to try to avoid awful mistakes.)
When the IT department wouldn't give me a database on the network, I uploaded SQL Server Express to a machine under my desk and used it for Enterprise-level reporting. Once the users began to champion the reports I created, the IT department finally gave me a server on their network (with automated backups to the network and all that.) Now I use it as something of a data warehouse (data mart?) gathering information into usable tables from across a half-dozen other OLTP systems. It's been a great tool for reporting.
Our IT department has a slew of Business Analysts and Project Managers. These positions "provide work flow analysis and documentation," "work within the Project Management Methodology framework," etc. What this means is that it's difficult to get much done at that level in the way of reporting and development. My department managers understand the problem, so I am their go-to guy when it comes to data needs. In addition, the IT department has to document their time in quarter-hour increments, and anything they do must be approved by others before they can work on it. It takes a long, long time to get anything done, unless I call someone with whom I have a good relationship and they do it outside of the bureaucracy.
Every couple of years they'll decide that all reporting should be done by central IT. I go to the meeting, pull out a big binder of our reports, and begin explaining them. The new project manager for that meeting (it's always a new one) is shocked -- shocked! -- by the amount of complex reporting done at our department level. They say they'll get back to me, then I'm left alone for a couple more years.
If one of my users wants a change to a report or legacy interface application, I can get it done within days, often within hours. I'll bring them a mock-up for approval, make the changes in a Dev enviroment, then run my own QA. I've been here for over a decade and have thorough knowledge of the business needs, so interpreting their requests is typically not problematic. My users are very happy, as is my department manager. There's no heavy layer of IT bureaucracy, yet I get things done. By myself.
Is this situation normal within large organizations? I'd appreciate any insight.
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