Beware the CEO who knows ‘everything about tech’

Of course, CEOs come in all stripes, from the out-of-touch to the malevolent. Then there are the ones who mistakenly think they know all about technology, often embracing cutting-edge releases to bask in the attention of being known as an early adopter. What lowly tech can remove them from their deluded pedestal?

Some years ago I was hired by a CEO of a K12 facility who was just like this. We’ll call him “Tom.” He had great visions for his domain, and I was the first dedicated IT person to be hired. Tom told me from the start that he knew all there was to know about the technology, and when I needed help I could ask him any time. Oh goody, I thought.

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He also told me to look into problems with the server: It kept crashing and wasn’t always accessible through the network; also, email wasn’t functioning properly. The phone system wasn’t working correctly, either.

It starts with the server

He sent me on my way, telling me where to find the server. I finally located both the server and phone system in the tiny room that housed the water heater, along with 50 boxes of photocopy paper and an eight-port 10Base-T hub. I could hear the server running, but couldn’t find it at first — until I moved 12 boxes that were stacked on top and around it. That alone suggested a reason for the frequent outages.

Tom told me a new server location was out of the question. I suggested some ventilation be provided to at least reduce the overheating. A hole was cut in the ceiling, but the roof was flat and the hole only revealed insulation. When insulation around the hole was removed, the underside of the external cladding was revealed. That was the extent of the “ventilation.”

It worked during the winter, and the number of crashes decreased until the heat of the following summer. During this time I repeatedly suggested we move the server to a new location but was ignored. It was fine, Tom insisted, and after all he knew what he was talking about.

A tale of two consultants

By the time summer arrived, Tom had also developed a cosy relationship with a local tech consultant. Over drinks, the consultant had apparently promised the world at half of anyone else’s price. I was concerned because this consultant was known as a “pusher and leaver” who was extremely hard to get ahold of after he’d been paid for the goods. But Tom insisted he was a really good guy.

After a few more hardware crashes, Tom brought the consultant in to investigate, and he diagnosed the problems as involving the hardware and not the environment. He replaced the server, upgraded the software, and supplied five new PCs for the office staff and CEO.

However, the server kept crashing. Tom was finally fed up with the consultant and started looking for someone else to fix the problems, continuing to ignore my recommendations to move the technology to a new location. He was convinced the problems were with our new server.

The other company’s consultant arrived and after spending an hour with Tom came to talk to me. He made the polite statement that my boss knew far less about technology than he thought he did. Imagine that! We decided the consultant would recommend moving all the technology in that room to a better area.

Tom did not take the news well, doggedly insisting the location was fine. The consultant pushed back, explaining why this was necessary and pointing out the issues that could be expected in the future if the servers kept running so hot — the same points I’d been trying to communicate. Tom grudgingly gave me approval to seek new premises but to spend “no more than a few hundred dollars!”

The consultant and I came up with a number of ideas, all of which were rejected because Tom wanted the space for other items. Finally, with help from the building’s maintenance staff, we discovered a wall that had been built to hide an old toilet at the back of the water heater room. The area could be enlarged by knocking out the wall, taking out the toilet, and adding more ventilation through the ceiling. Though not ideal, it was a cheap solution. Still, Tom balked at the “estimated” cost, so the idea was shelved.

An executive about-face

Several months later, Tom had the great idea that we could become a lead facility in developing new technology and act as the hub that served other facilities in the area. He applied for and was granted funding to develop a local infrastructure to achieve this goal. Overnight, Tom deemed our server’s location unsuitable — we needed a purpose-built room to impress his peers when they visited.

I finally got what I’d been asking for and much, much more. No cost was spared. It was so obviously and extravagantly wasteful that it was almost funny. But Tom showed it off whenever he could.

We ended up with a wonderful new air-conditioned room, server racks, two 48-port managed switches, two servers, backup tape units in both servers, two high-end computers for me, a new PBX — even a TV, built-in furniture, and storage. The only thing I didn’t get was antistatic mats for the floor and desks; Tom deemed them unnecessary (but he’d been pushing for a mini fridge).

It was a wonderful room — I could even sleep there if needed. Not much of the equipment was essential or even used. I never watched TV, the two switches were underutilized for about three years, I never found a purpose for the second PC in that room, and the PBX was replaced two years later for a VoIP setup.

Things muddled along for a while until Tom pushed for many more expensive, avoidable, and unnecessary additions. He lasted another few years before the board realized something wasn’t right and fired him.

But during that time I got to play with some top-end gear, learned how to make movies, installed the CEO-designed video network that was never used, set up a small TV studio, and attended several interesting and exotic courses completely unrelated to my job — and earned a head of gray hair from coping with the unrelenting pressure of an aggressive techno dunce cloaked as a self-appointed early adopter.

This story, “Beware the CEO who knows ‘everything about tech’,” was originally published at InfoWorld.com. Read more crazy-but-true stories in the anonymous Off the Record blog at InfoWorld.com. For the latest business technology news, follow InfoWorld.com on Twitter.