Dedicated vs. General
As the administrator of a mixed radiology PACS system, I was responsible for more and better technology than the hospitals general IT support staff -- and they hated it. While they were stuck working on Windows '95 machines with floppy drives and 15" CRT's, I had huge, high-resolution multi-lcd systems with blazing multi-processor workstations on a gigabit-by-copper subnet. I also had a rack full of servers in 'their' server room, with a couple Terabytes of spinning storage.

Of course, I was serving up 10Mb x-rays & 500Mb CAT-scans to Radiologists making $5.00 per minute, who needed the data to make life-or-death decisions.

The radiologists and other imaging staff had my cell phone, and were admittedly spoiled -- I usually responded in person in less than 5 minutes to any issue, and could solve most problems immediately over the phone. Such service didn't come cheap, though -- I was paid more than the director of IT.

During a budget crunch, said IT director sold administration on his plan to take over my responsiblities, thus eliminating my position.

Cue me being let go, and Radiology descending into the hell known as general IT support. Not only didn't the IT guys know my systems hardware, they had no idea how dodgy and custom the software was, and the hand-holding Radiologists required.

About 6 months later, I ran into one of the radiologists and he told me this tale: His system froze up, with only 1 monitor (of 4) working, and it was sideways. He re-booted to no avail, then called IT. After being put on hold for a couple minutes, he was run through the standard gauntlet of re-booting (again), etc. Then he was told that they'd dispatch a tech.

Disgusted, pissed, and already out 30 minutes (at $5.00/ minute), he headed off to the doctor's break room to get a bagel and coffee. On the way there he saw the IT tech, and watched him go into a secretaries office. Poking his head in, he interrupted the tech to inquire about his issue. The tech told him "Yes, Dr. -- I've got your call here. After I fix Miss's printer issue, I've got to check the fax in accounting. Then I'll be right down."

The entire radiologist group quit the hospital the next month, however the new group the hospital hired was cheaper, so I guess result for the hospital.
(danalan Pretty good, for an amateur., Thu 24 Sep 2009, 19:36, Reply)