$15,000 Later…

I was working as the local IT operations manager for a company, and I had a new guy start in our regional head office. His boss was based at the company head office in another country.

At our company, you had to have a company-provided PC; any other device would not be allowed to access the company Wi-Fi, and the switch port would lock if you connected to the local network.

The new guy was a contractor earning over $1000 per day. His boss didn’t want to provide him with a company PC as “they cost too much” (around $1200). So, the new guy was using his MacBook. He couldn’t access any corporate systems at all.

He came and saw me, and I advised him that he needed a company PC; there was no other option. I had assumed this was all sorted.

A few weeks later (and about $15,000 into the contract), he comes to me and complains that he can’t get any work done; his boss says we have to allow his Mac to work on the network. This would be complex and lengthy.

I call his boss and explain that the new guy is wasting lots of our money and my time by not being able to work. I explain that the most effective way to get him working is to supply a PC.

I’m told, “No! You must make his Mac work with our systems!” We have no Macs at all.

I mention to the boss that we have people starting and finishing all the time, and we have a lot of spare PCs in our storeroom. How about I supply him with a second-hand PC?

“Oh, okay then.” Problem solved.