From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Eastern Pennsylvania

A few of you might have noticed that I don't really post much on BP lately. Well that is because my stupid company's IT department decided to block access to this website. As much money as I make for them, and I can't even have my 15 minutes of peace out of the day to decompress and read/post about pumpkins. What is this world coming to.

3/21/2008 8:54:09 PM

Whidbey Island

As one of those "corporate jerks", I have to respond. I have a small business, employ 12 people. If everyone took 15 minutes per day of my paid time, I'd lose 3 hours of worker time per day, or 15 hours per week. That is nearly two whole days of lost employee time that I would be paying for each week. Sure, it would be nice to think that just 15 minutes won't hurt, but it does add up and I just can't afford it. Ask your boss if you can log on during lunch, that is your time, not his, and you might get a bit of a different spin on things. Good luck.

3/21/2008 10:03:11 PM

Farmville, Virginia ([email protected])

Most businesses are required to provide at least one 15 minute break per day not counting lunch. God forbid we cost the corporate big men a dollar!

3/21/2008 10:39:15 PM

[email protected]

I like whidbeypumpkinman's idea of open requests for free computer time during breaks/lunch. This time of year I can't justify even 1 minute here at BP during the day & the days run 12+ hours. But that's life as a Green Industry salesperson this time of year. If I wanna eat I need to stay focused on sales. Come summer/winter when things slow down I log onto BP whenever it's appropriate. Not everyone can be trusted to make good decisions with respect to "company time" so the masses pay for the mistakes of the few.

Businesses are required to offer breaks but not internet access. Asking nicely seems like a good idea.

3/21/2008 11:15:34 PM

Minnesota

Do your job, Go home and spend your family time on the internet or start your own company....
The internet is a gigantic drain on resources.
Whidbey is right on target but is underestimating the amount of time by 1/4...
Nothing personal..... Or maybe it is?

3/21/2008 11:35:45 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

Ok....here is where I chime in.... as the head of an IT department I have to tell ya, Look up PCI DSS compliance and see what it takes for an IT dept. to Keep customer data secure and the company compliant, if your company installed a firewall, chances are this site would be blocked automaticly. There have been a few major breaches in security in the past, one recently where the network was compromised and customer credit card data stolen, these measures are necessary to protect the consumer and the company.
I agree that it sux, but if you look at the big picture here, it is company time, once again, I agree with you, but these measures are necessary.
Steve, If the IT dept had to open and close the firewall, excluded and include workstations all day, there would be no time for anything else, how do you justify allowing one person 15 mins while blocking traffic the rest of the day? Doesnt make any sense nor is it practical.
If your network gets breached, what do you tell the consumers and the judge at the class law suite hearings "we only opened everything up for 15 mins"?

Just my 2 cents, nothing personal.

3/22/2008 8:36:44 AM

Dresden, Ohio

Good points Tom. I'm sure most non-IT people never consider that.
-Jeremy

3/22/2008 8:44:12 AM

Waquoit Mass

all the jobs that corporations have sent out off the usa and you guys are worried about 15 minutes on BP.i wanna shoot myself

3/22/2008 9:24:30 AM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

well...it's quicker then hanging yerself....lmao...joking!

3/22/2008 11:49:45 AM

Frankfort Oh

can`t we all just get along?

3/22/2008 11:53:39 AM

Eastern Pennsylvania

The thing is, in my opinion, all companies are going to have non-productive time from their employees. The same IT people putting the block on the site go out for cigarette breaks every hour or two. Other employees might spend a few minutes here or there socializing with their colleagues. I agree that 15 min per day times XXX number of employees equals big $ losses on paper, but the reality is: if you don't provide a work place that employees find enjoyable, you are at great risk of losing skilled workers. The point of my arguement spans beyond the use of BP.com. I see it as another brick on my shoulder. At somepoint they risk losing an experienced project manager and would have to hire and train some greenhorn to do my job. That makes no sense from a quality perspective.

For the record, I did ask nicely and got no response. Interesting that the employee next door can spend all day on ESPN.com but for some reason my pumpkin website is off-limits.

3/22/2008 4:42:38 PM

Somers, CT

The reason Tom is so tough on IT security is because he is one of the IT people that has the secret "full access open Internet connection".

Seriously, I know it is a pain but locking down even 10 computers let alone 60,000 is a nightmare. Obama, Hilary and McCain had their passport files hacked last week. That is all they know about.

3/22/2008 8:14:43 PM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

LOL Rob! All IT is wide open...lmao

3/22/2008 8:35:44 PM

Midwest

Tom internet access is an important resource for my job, java developer. It's a fact that developers often find the internet to be a valuable resource to find the solution to some issue. To rely on books and support calls to resolve an issue instead of searching the internet, is rarely productive. I understand DSS is important, no doubt. But, there's nothing in the 12 guidelines that even mention blocking internet access to the company.
Greg

3/24/2008 1:31:19 AM

Www.extremepumpkinstore.com

Greg,
Your specific job requirements should determine what level of access the you have, IT are not mind readers, but if a developers comes to me and says that they are trying to get to a legitimate work related site, we open that website up. It's not an us against them situation, Firewalls by default block incoming we must evaluate and open up access as needed.
I was using PCI as one example, in a 3 hr time frame our firewall logs show that numerous port scans, IP spoofs and buffer over flows have been attempted...all of which have the sole purpose of trying to gain access to the network.
The more websites that are open, the easier it will be to compromise the network and data that may include your personal info and possibly take out little things like a payroll server...
Greg, your IT dept. should be able to grant you access to the websites that you need.

3/24/2008 7:10:54 AM