TKO - Built for disaster

It was about time. I was closing to eight years in the same company. Starting as a Unix SysAdm and when I left I was in charge of Operational Security. Day2day means dealing with practical questions and be prepared for the worst with my GCIH in my backpack as a safe net. Needless to say I was very proud of my job, and (I hope) skilled. I have done security related work since late 1980's with computers and there has always been something new to learn, experience and look forward upon. But then came the big wave. That big wave came, not as a shockwave, but as a slowly growing tidal wave and it swept all engagement and will away. The epicenter of that tsunami was politics. I had grown and roots were stuck. I was stuck. I felt like a Jeep in muddy waters where grey water started pressing its way into the Jeep and all I could do was sit there and watch. I wasn't even in the driver's seat. And it just kept coming in. I told my boss a year ago that this couldn't go on. I n...

OK... let's lay out the facts: User has a company policy using IE8. Same company has an internal web site using Microsoft web server and MS-SQL backend. This is all fine, as I see it, since it would all fit together as all components are delivered from the same source. And here comes the ridiculous part: It's a clash. In order to display a page it can take up to 20 minutes, yes MINUTES, before you can start working. My opinion is that if it takes more than 5 seconds before a web page is completely downloaded and displayed there is something wrong with some part of the design. If it is the web design, or the the engine itself, or the backend DB is unimportant, what happens is the user gets out of focus and uninterested, if not straight out frustrated. And if this is a site where you need to attend a lot at times there will be annoyance to say the least. So, let's call the IT helpdesk, which happens to be in another country where these things are a bit cheaper than Europe...