With Clark gone and 3 new leadership position searches underway, the business is taking full advantage and moving forward with initiatives without IT. They see a void in leadership and are taking advantage of it. The fact is Merck IT has fallen far behind their competitors in IT and are not innovative or risk takers - the business is fed up and are moving on. Continue to keep your heads down and hide, as your jobs get taken over by a growing number of shadow IT groups and consultants. You deserve what you get for contributing nothing to grow and drive new products and revenues. When the new IT leaders are brought in it will be a blood bath all across the world as the ineffective and high cost hubs are going to come crashing down and budgets will be re-directed to the business. Can't wait!
anonymous
Guest
anonymous
Guest
I call bullshit. Read the other IT boards here. Our 'competitors in IT' are the IT departments of other Pharma Companies that are equally badly funded, under resourced and also led by idiots. As a result they suffer many of the same issues we do.
Also ask yourself who was responsible for hiring Clark? The CEO handpicks their CIO, CFO, etc., right? So at least point the finger of blame at the resonsible person, Kenneth Frazier. Ask what he is doing to ensure he hires a suitable person next time.
You seem not to grasp IT is a service provided to the business at a cost and is not responsible for revenue generation. It contributes by supporting the development and introduction of new products and revenue streams but does not does not "grow and drive new products and revenues" in and of itself.
Are you suggesting Merck start its own Geek Squad and begin bringing in revenue by fixing consumer PC's? While we're on why don't we have the Finance people help me with my tax returns this year and the janitors fix my leaky faucet? I'll pay them each $20 an hour. Okay maybe $25 for the janitors as they're good guys.
Alternatively Merck's executives could put a solid, well funded, long-term plan in place to fix our broken R&D and ensure we don't continue to have to buy in new products for the pipeline and perpetuate the problem.
Let's do that and accept that multinational corporations (especially in Pharma) are not innovative or risk takers.
Also as to "your jobs get taken over by a growing number of shadow IT groups and consultants" take a look at the white elephant that is SAP that was (hugely over-)sold to Merck by consultants. Suggesting a return to shadow IT groups makes no sense and shows how little you understand of this subject.
I can't decide if you're trolling here or genuinely don't have a clue, despite claiming to be a "business client" but either way I can't wait until the day the business gets its sh1t together and stops blaiming IT for everything that ails it.
Also ask yourself who was responsible for hiring Clark? The CEO handpicks their CIO, CFO, etc., right? So at least point the finger of blame at the resonsible person, Kenneth Frazier. Ask what he is doing to ensure he hires a suitable person next time.
You seem not to grasp IT is a service provided to the business at a cost and is not responsible for revenue generation. It contributes by supporting the development and introduction of new products and revenue streams but does not does not "grow and drive new products and revenues" in and of itself.
Are you suggesting Merck start its own Geek Squad and begin bringing in revenue by fixing consumer PC's? While we're on why don't we have the Finance people help me with my tax returns this year and the janitors fix my leaky faucet? I'll pay them each $20 an hour. Okay maybe $25 for the janitors as they're good guys.
Alternatively Merck's executives could put a solid, well funded, long-term plan in place to fix our broken R&D and ensure we don't continue to have to buy in new products for the pipeline and perpetuate the problem.
Let's do that and accept that multinational corporations (especially in Pharma) are not innovative or risk takers.
Also as to "your jobs get taken over by a growing number of shadow IT groups and consultants" take a look at the white elephant that is SAP that was (hugely over-)sold to Merck by consultants. Suggesting a return to shadow IT groups makes no sense and shows how little you understand of this subject.
I can't decide if you're trolling here or genuinely don't have a clue, despite claiming to be a "business client" but either way I can't wait until the day the business gets its sh1t together and stops blaiming IT for everything that ails it.
With Clark gone and 3 new leadership position searches underway, the business is taking full advantage and moving forward with initiatives without IT. They see a void in leadership and are taking advantage of it. The fact is Merck IT has fallen far behind their competitors in IT and are not innovative or risk takers - the business is fed up and are moving on. Continue to keep your heads down and hide, as your jobs get taken over by a growing number of shadow IT groups and consultants. You deserve what you get for contributing nothing to grow and drive new products and revenues. When the new IT leaders are brought in it will be a blood bath all across the world as the ineffective and high cost hubs are going to come crashing down and budgets will be re-directed to the business. Can't wait!
anonymous
Guest
anonymous
Guest
As someone that works with Merck IT, they are a group of hardworking, dedicated professionals. But I do agree that they are risk averse and would rather take the slower, conservative approach rather than trying to be bold and innovative. Our team has gone to outside providers who move faster and bring fresh, new ideas, but we rely on the core IT team for basic help desk support, network access, etc.
anonymous
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anonymous
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hardworking? dedicated? are you sure it is merck it you worked with?
anonymous
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anonymous
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Our team has gone to outside providers
I’d guess your significant other has too
anonymous
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anonymous
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We don't give a shit what you do... dig your grave.
anonymous
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anonymous
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We don't give a shit what you do... dig your grave.
Careful or you’ll hurt his feelings
anonymous
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anonymous
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anonymous
Guest
I was never a fan of business-IT dichotomy. Whoever invented this type of organization is surely an idiot. You treat a significant number of employees as second class employees and expect first class service? You get what you deserve. And what kind of a business is it anyways? Trying to invent stupid chemicals based on a quarter ass understanding of systems biology? The only decent accomplishment is maybe the vaccines.
With Clark gone and 3 new leadership position searches underway, the business is taking full advantage and moving forward with initiatives without IT. They see a void in leadership and are taking advantage of it. The fact is Merck IT has fallen far behind their competitors in IT and are not innovative or risk takers - the business is fed up and are moving on. Continue to keep your heads down and hide, as your jobs get taken over by a growing number of shadow IT groups and consultants. You deserve what you get for contributing nothing to grow and drive new products and revenues. When the new IT leaders are brought in it will be a blood bath all across the world as the ineffective and high cost hubs are going to come crashing down and budgets will be re-directed to the business. Can't wait!
anonymous
Guest
anonymous
Guest
I was never a fan of business-IT dichotomy...
A sure fire way to keep both sides blaming each other when management is really at fault.
anonymous
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anonymous
Guest
Your understanding of the fundamentals of this business are first class. Are you available to interview for the role of CEO, replacing Kenny?
p.s. We also authored and sold quite a lot of copies of the Merck Manual. Okay, maybe not so much authored as paid someone to ghost write it for us. Okay, maybe not sold but gave away for free to doctors, nurses and our employees so they know how great we are.
p.s. We also authored and sold quite a lot of copies of the Merck Manual. Okay, maybe not so much authored as paid someone to ghost write it for us. Okay, maybe not sold but gave away for free to doctors, nurses and our employees so they know how great we are.
...what kind of a business is it anyways? Trying to invent stupid chemicals based on a quarter ass understanding of systems biology? The only decent accomplishment is maybe the vaccines.
anonymous
Guest
anonymous
Guest
Since you are that great, why don't you go back to your lab and invent something for life? People are dying every second you are wasting here responding to some clueless IT dude!
anonymous
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anonymous
Guest
It has been awesome since Clark left. No one is minding the store and we can now bring in vendors with just a obligatory meeting. Things are starting to move now, after all these years. We no longer have to have the weakest systems in the industry but can upgrade.
anonymous
Guest
anonymous
Guest
Just fucking fire all IT already, start from the stupid ass so called "leaders", then bring in vendors to do the science as well
anonymous
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anonymous
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We no longer have to have the weakest systems in the industry but can upgrade.
So you’ve replaced your nineties tech with noughties tech? LCD displays instead of CRT are going to blow your mind.
Now you have got the second weakest systems in the industry.
anonymous
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anonymous
Guest
Another genius from the business that once wrote some formulae for MS Excel and thinks he’s Bill Gates.
Can we outsource the business leaders?
Can we outsource the business leaders?
Just fucking fire all IT already, start from the stupid ass so called "leaders", then bring in vendors to do the science as well
anonymous
Guest
anonymous
Guest
If MRL treats IT like just another vendor instead of their partner, then would it make sense for Merck to have the IT division at all? If they want to vendorize the process, why stop at IT services? You can vendorize all scientific discovery process as well...
anonymous
Guest
anonymous
Guest
MRL IT's leaders clearly have even less of a clue than their equivalent in the other divisions.
The vendors obviously want to maximize profit so will provide resources probably only days out of university with the absolute minimum skills to be able to get the job done and requiring on the job training at the time and expense of the client. The client is either stuck with the same vendor ad infinitum or has to swallow starting from scratch with each new vendor with a prolonged breaking-in period.
The vendor typically gets paid irregardless of whether the service provided is good or bad so after the honeymoon period, with no incentive, reverts to providing a poor service. The individuals working for the vendor are also not incentivized to provide good service beyond the minimum required to remain in their job because no matter how well they perform they won't be paid any better, provided a bonus, etc. But Merck thinks these people will continue to provide outstanding service for years for the camaraderie and love of the intellectual challenge.
The number one reason not to vendorize everything is because Merck is truly awful at managing vendors and has spent a lot of time and money honing those skills.
Merck has a short memory. Does anyone recall the Petya incident. How did having non-Merck IT staff based remotely work out then?
I am not a research scientist but I will say that we probably manage research as poorly as we manage IT and every other area of the business. The same sycophants will have been promoted to management and leadership positions, all too scared to speak out and address the issues because they fear losing their job too. We obviously engender an atmosphere of indifference and fear of job losses among MRL staff just as well as the other divisions. I can't imagine Merck fosters an environment where researchers are empowered to think differently, investigate their suppositions and are rewarded for their achievements.
Outsourcing research is an awful idea. If you're able to successfully research new medicines, vaccines, medical devices, etc. you're doing it for yourself either to take it to market or to sell it to the whales of the industry like Merck who can't research if their life depended on it so will pay big bucks. Why would you consider instead doing the same for minimum wage and letting Merck reap the benefits?
Merck has clearly wanted to outsource all of IT and has been working that way for decades so sure, why not, go ahead and hopefully it will hasten Merck disappearing into the annals of history.
The vendors obviously want to maximize profit so will provide resources probably only days out of university with the absolute minimum skills to be able to get the job done and requiring on the job training at the time and expense of the client. The client is either stuck with the same vendor ad infinitum or has to swallow starting from scratch with each new vendor with a prolonged breaking-in period.
The vendor typically gets paid irregardless of whether the service provided is good or bad so after the honeymoon period, with no incentive, reverts to providing a poor service. The individuals working for the vendor are also not incentivized to provide good service beyond the minimum required to remain in their job because no matter how well they perform they won't be paid any better, provided a bonus, etc. But Merck thinks these people will continue to provide outstanding service for years for the camaraderie and love of the intellectual challenge.
The number one reason not to vendorize everything is because Merck is truly awful at managing vendors and has spent a lot of time and money honing those skills.
Merck has a short memory. Does anyone recall the Petya incident. How did having non-Merck IT staff based remotely work out then?
I am not a research scientist but I will say that we probably manage research as poorly as we manage IT and every other area of the business. The same sycophants will have been promoted to management and leadership positions, all too scared to speak out and address the issues because they fear losing their job too. We obviously engender an atmosphere of indifference and fear of job losses among MRL staff just as well as the other divisions. I can't imagine Merck fosters an environment where researchers are empowered to think differently, investigate their suppositions and are rewarded for their achievements.
Outsourcing research is an awful idea. If you're able to successfully research new medicines, vaccines, medical devices, etc. you're doing it for yourself either to take it to market or to sell it to the whales of the industry like Merck who can't research if their life depended on it so will pay big bucks. Why would you consider instead doing the same for minimum wage and letting Merck reap the benefits?
Merck has clearly wanted to outsource all of IT and has been working that way for decades so sure, why not, go ahead and hopefully it will hasten Merck disappearing into the annals of history.
If MRL treats IT like just another vendor instead of their partner, then would it make sense for Merck to have the IT division at all? If they want to vendorize the process, why stop at IT services? You can vendorize all scientific discovery process as well...
anonymous
Guest
anonymous
Guest
I think I might know you. Did I used to provide IT for your business area? Speak up if any of the following sounds like you..
"We don't need a project and funding for this, just put it in the cloud like everyone else is doing."
"We're being sued for putting personally identifiable information in the cloud with no access controls, please help us."
"I know we haven't spent any dollars on IT in our area for twenty years but our data is in great shape, right?"
"IT is easy, what are you complaining about, I used to work with punched cards back in the day"
"we don't know what analytics requirements we have for our IT system but you're not providing them."
"find us a way we can use a MS Kinect in our IT because that would look really cool."
"We don't feel your supporting our business needs but we can't adequately describe the same."
"yes, we do that a little differently to everyone else" [what everyone else says too]
"we have a guy in [non-IT area] who helped us with [IT function] but we didn't have a backup and we lost everything. Help."
"My computer is running slow and ...[entirely unrelated event IT was tangentally involved with]"
"We don't need a project and funding for this, just put it in the cloud like everyone else is doing."
"We're being sued for putting personally identifiable information in the cloud with no access controls, please help us."
"I know we haven't spent any dollars on IT in our area for twenty years but our data is in great shape, right?"
"IT is easy, what are you complaining about, I used to work with punched cards back in the day"
"we don't know what analytics requirements we have for our IT system but you're not providing them."
"find us a way we can use a MS Kinect in our IT because that would look really cool."
"We don't feel your supporting our business needs but we can't adequately describe the same."
"yes, we do that a little differently to everyone else" [what everyone else says too]
"we have a guy in [non-IT area] who helped us with [IT function] but we didn't have a backup and we lost everything. Help."
"My computer is running slow and ...[entirely unrelated event IT was tangentally involved with]"
Just fucking fire all IT already, start from the stupid ass so called "leaders", then bring in vendors to do the science as well
anonymous
Guest
anonymous
Guest
Deloitte and the other vendors run Merck IT because the team and leadership are garbage with zero skills. They will never be able to get another job when they are fired.