The ineptness in Amgen's IT are not the individual contributors, but the upper management. Amgen really has recruited some of the finest IT people, but IT management knows nothing about the business or competative advantage. Also, an outource company has NO vested interest as FTE's may have. Amgen management needs someone to blame. So why not blame the vendor. It's nothing more than switching seat on the Titanic.
ISI needs to be outsourced. They have a long history of failure at all levels, that is one of the main reasons Amgen is so behind with technology.
You my friend are a blithering idiot who is spewing from the mouth a bunch of uneducated crap. Amgen has recruited and now lost some of the most talented technical people in the industry. Unlike your thoughtless data, this is proven by the level of jobs they are obtaining as they leave here in droves. Compared to the majority of businesses with an enterprise as large as Amgen's we are way more mature in our processes, technology, and technical competence. Unfortunately we are subject to idiotic uneducated opinions, such as yours, which have no understanding of information technology and the complexity of the service it provides to the organization. So go back to your desk and sit there with your thumb up your ass waiting for the help desk representative to listen to you cry about your message light not working, while we continue to support and provide service that you don't even have the smallest concept of. DUMBASS!
The people that should be outsourced in IT, are all the Business Analysts and Project Managers. People that actually support our clients have a real skill set and domain Knowledge. We have allot of people that just go to bogus meetings and take teh credit for the people that execute and make a difference.
The writing is on the wall. IT infrastructure will be outsourced. How successful will it be, nobody knows. But it will be a rocky transition since all the good people in IT have left for greener pastures, leaving the deadbeats behind to manage the outsource company. And forget management's involvement. They're too high and mighty talking about vaporware that has little to do with aligning IT with the business. And to top it off, I don't think the current ISLT has the brains to rope in all the regional locations since most of the ISLT doesn't even know what occurs outside of ATO.
Quite interesting to see the comments about IT incompetence, etc. which are obviously posted by end abusers that think the computer’s optical drive is a cup holder. I have been in the IT industry for over two decades, with experience with many vendors, companies, technologies, etc. I can say from personal knowledge that Amgen (had) an IT staff and infrastructure that most organizations aspire to. The level of talent, commitment, and work ethic was beyond anything I have seen in my career. However, bad management can break even the best of the best. And that is what Amgen has....some of the most unqualified, overpaid, and uninformed managers in the business. I saw one manager tear down 3 years of hard work in 4 weeks. IT professional were expected to put together circle-jerk PowerPoint presentations in lieu of fixing problems. This is where the perception of IT being incompetent comes from. We were simply encouraged not to resolve issues. When Tom Flanagan stood in front of ISI and paraphrased "there are too many outages, you are incompetent, and I can do better for less" - well, I left the company for a job that I was not actively looking for....at 20% more salary and a tidy signing bonus. Hey Tom - you are wrong again. At least you are consistent. Last I heard the business did not expect ISI to be really serious about this outsourcing stuff. When HR, Legal, and the regional sites finally figured that out, well that is when it hit the fan. The sites scrambled to keep their talent, Legal starting convulsing, and HR really freaked as the plan to keep some IT folks while outsourcing others...in the same job role....can you say "lawsuit"? I knew you could. So, Diana and her posse (!) are now saying that it might not happen at all - which could be construed as pretense to keep exiting staff in line for the guillotine. What a shame. Amgen had it all from an IT perspective, poised for greatness....and is throwing it all away to make the company more attractive to the street....or for a buyout. Kevin will definitely get a great payday either way.
You my friend did a fine job of articulating the factual truth. I have three individuals in my mind of which I know you are one of. which one??? not sure. I thought about making a new post on the Amgen board for all to read, but plagerism is not my bag. I sure hope you do though! Way to go my IT brother!
You guys are giving way too much credit to Amgen Management for coming up with the outsourcing fiasco as a better way to manage things. They hired a bunch of 20 year olds from McKinsey and IBM is only too happy to agree, along with Unisys and other vendors, as to the need to turn flashy powerpoints into some outsourcing approach. It is happening in several functions. Reality is, Amgen is so cash rich and such a cash cow, they can afford to screw up a few more times and that would still not be impactful. Only slowing sales will change management's effectiveness. The DMAB good news, assuming they are all good and factual, are probably the worst news for Amgen from a long term perspective: the kids will go back to being kids and play Gods, screwing up the company a bit more.
Amgen isn't just outsourcing IT but they have and are continuing to outsource any area they can. Kevin is the worse CEO. HR and other areas haven't been openly communicated as to being outsourced. So it can't be every area of Amgen isn't doing good work...But of course Management is calling it restructuring for the TAX break and another hugh bonus to the executive team while the people who do work go to the competitors. Really smart Kevin. But we don't expect you to be at Amgen for very much longer. Board of Directors... Ask Gordon Binder what to do!!!!!!
Very well spoken. Amgen IT staff was one of the best, however they never got any support from upper management. Management was always more worried about the next PowerPoint Presentation or wasting everyone's time with useless service catalogs. Once IT is outsourced hopefully they will understand how good they had it before.
My clients ultimately pay the price. They dont understand why little things take so long to complete. Its frustrating.
Oracle 7 is good stuff. Exchange 4 is tops. Windows XP home edition is enterprise ready. Portfolio Management, leaves a lot to be desired. Windows NT Domain Controllers rock.
My two cents on what is/was wrong with Amgen IT. My apologies, since this might be dated - I was RIF'd in 2007. The essence of what was wrong with Amgen was ingrained in the company culture, of glorifying Ph.Ds. That's all well and fine (and reasonable) when hiring for scientific positions. But figuratively speaking, hiring Ph.Ds for IT positions is like hiring a doctor to act as your lawyer.
