Pros
Management brought in a new CIO who emphasizes concentrating on projects that add value to the company. He challenges existing concepts and is detailed when it comes to approving new endeavors. There is emphasis on a few important projects that support the RAND strategic mission. This and pushing to reduce support work to allow developers to concentrate on important projects has helped to allow us to get more real work done. In some ways it has made work less stressful, although not completely. RAND is a company where the environment is stimulating. At RAND you work with very talented researchers who generally are eager to have your help and recognize that you have something to offer them that they can't do themselves. The research that we are involved in affects everyone and adds to policy and decisionmaking ability for all of the most current issues we face. It makes you proud to work here. The CIO has an open-door policy and it seems like if you spend time with him to get his feelings about a project you are working on it helps to make sure that you will be headed in the right direction. I think it appears that his approach is working. Our internal clients have said that the differences they see are positive and we hear that the reputation of our IS department is good and getting better.
Cons
We sometimes get stuck in our old processes and procedures, creating an environment where there isn't much new. Some of our folks see this as comfortable, so there has been a lot of concern on the part of some in IS over the changes that have been introduced. This has caused griping and made some people hard to work with at times. I guess that isn't unusual with new management. Pushing projects through the approval processes at different "gates" is a new process for us, and has been a challenge and sometimes frustrating. At times the PMs feel like they are ready to move forward, and then they are told to go back and re-do some of it. It is a learning experience. We have lost a few people and hiring replacements is going slowly. Some of the responsibilities that people had before have been taken away and they are having to look for new ways to make their contributions known. I am not sure that this is recognized.