When Managing IT Feels Like Herding Cats [VIDEO]

Cat Herding: The attempt to control or organize a class of entities which are uncontrollable or chaotic. Implies a task that is extremely difficult or impossible to do, primarily due to chaotic factors (Wikipedia). Does the humorous concept of cat herding sound like your current approach to IT management?

Cat herding is a great analogy to describe IT management because it sometimes feels like all of your different IT responsibilities are working against each other. Keeping track of your vendors, warranties, security updates, software licenses, user permissions, out-of-date operating systems, and underutilized (or overutilized) servers can feel overwhelming and even unruly. In the face of such obstinate obstacles, don’t lose hope. You have the cat tamers at XFER on your side.

It takes a special kind of person to be a an IT cat herder. One must understand the intricacies of how different systems interact with each other, determine the different technology goals of different departments, and have the stomach to deal with messes and scratches (of both the real and the digital variety). By having us herd your cat-like technology, we can direct your IT operations to where you want it to go so you can finally catch that red dot.

To give you an idea of what cat herding looks like, we have for your viewing pleasure a 2010 commercial by IKEA. Their marketing team had the bright idea to take 100 house cats and let them loose in one of their warehouse-sized furniture stores. They filmed the results to make one of the cutest, fuzziest, and cuddliest commercials ever. Enjoy!

This cute commercial is what it looks like when cat herding goes according plan. Due to the difficult nature of real-life cat herding, pulling off such a feat (or paw) was quite challenging. It required a team of professional animal handlers and five film crews. Additionally, in order to assist felines that got stuck behind the store’s walls, maintenance crews were needed. See the cat-herding adventure here with a behind-the-scenes video made by IKEA.

Just like IKEA needed a team and a plan to have all of these cats do what they needed them to do, so too must your business herd all of its systems, staff, data, and technology to achieve your goal. Thankfully, you don’t have to pull your hair out and deal with such a difficult task like IT cat herding. At XFER, we’re able to tame technologies wildest cats in order to make technology work for you.

Give us a call at 734-927-6666 / 800-GET-XFER for a free technology consultation.