frenchcr
2009-Nov-22 11:14 UTC
[R] how do i persuade IT to install R on PCs ?? ...and should I ??
Please help me persuade IT to install R on my computer! All suggestions welcome. Our IT department run scared when you mention software that they have no working experience of. I need to know the pros and cons of having R on corporate desktops. Please no funny stuff, this is quite a serious issue for us. Pros and cons would be good. Thanks. -- View this message in context: http://old.nabble.com/how-do-i-persuade-IT-to-install-R-on-PCs----...and-should-I----tp26464163p26464163.html Sent from the R help mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
Marc Schwartz
2009-Nov-22 17:03 UTC
[R] how do i persuade IT to install R on PCs ?? ...and should I ??
On Nov 22, 2009, at 5:14 AM, frenchcr wrote:> > > Please help me persuade IT to install R on my computer! > > All suggestions welcome. > > Our IT department run scared when you mention software that they > have no > working experience of. > > I need to know the pros and cons of having R on corporate desktops. > > Please no funny stuff, this is quite a serious issue for us. > > Pros and cons would be good. > > Thanks.You need to define how R will meet and preferably enhance whatever functional requirements you have as compared to alternatives that are either already installed or that your IT folks are considering. How will R enhance your ability to meet the needs of the internal and/or external consumers of your analytic services? Typically, arguments based solely on costs (eg. R is free) will fall on deaf ears in IT, since there is the likelihood that your R installations will require some level of support from them, thus having a real cost in time and money. Are your R installations going to need to interface with other platforms such as database servers, etc? What security and server/network access implications will it have? What other supporting applications will you require to use with R (eg. editors, Perl, LaTeX, C/FORTAN compilers and related tools, etc.) that will increase support and maintenance requirements? Who is going to support R as problems occur and updates are needed? Most IT departments are used to paying for support to a commercial vendor. Somebody that they can call when things go wrong. They may not be used to getting support from mailing lists. Yes, there are commercial variants of R that address that issue and that may be something to consider depending upon the specifics of your situation. What knowledge does your IT department have of open source development and support? Is Linux being used on servers or workstations? Even if they are using a commercial Linux installation (eg. Red Hat), they may be more comfortable with the general concept of open source, which may be part of the battle that you are facing. Is there an alternative to installing on local desktops versus considering a central installation on a server? The former magnifies the time and workload requirements to IT for installing and maintaining over a larger number of computers. The latter enables a more centralized and possibly more efficient IT approach to this. What, if any, issues are there in converting existing code and processes that are implemented using other applications to R? What if any code reviews and functional validations will be required, resulting in real costs associated with those processes? There are not only direct costs, but indirect costs and opportunity costs associated with moving to and using R. You are going to require some level of support from them for R, which means they will have less time and resources for other activities. This becomes a control, political, economic and potentially even a legal issue. Over the years, as desktop PC's became common, there was a decentralization and dilution of IT involvement from the old mainframe/minicomputer days. That trend has been reversing for some time in most corporate environments, such that IT is taking a much more proactive role in controlling technology decision making, support and access across the IT spectrum. That includes driving corporate policies regarding applications, hardware, security, mobile platforms (laptops, smart phones, etc.) and is influenced by a variety of factors, not the least of which can be risk management, regulatory and related issues. An incremental approach is something to consider. Install R on one desktop machine or a server and let your IT folks become comfortable with it, before moving to a larger scale implementation if you are looking beyond just your one desktop. In addition, sell your manager(s) on R to gain their support and influence on the decision making process, therefore helping to politically bolster your arguments. It is known as "managing up" and can be an important part of the strategy in gaining IT's support, presuming that your managers are in a position of influence with IT. It would be difficult to provide detailed guidance to you without more information on your specific environment, but hopefully the above provides food for thought, at least in the abstract. Cheers, Marc Schwartz
Ben Bolker
2009-Nov-22 17:14 UTC
[R] how do i persuade IT to install R on PCs ?? ...and should I ??
frenchcr <frenchcr <at> btinternet.com> writes:> > > Please help me persuade IT to install R on my computer! > > All suggestions welcome. > > Our IT department run scared when you mention software that they have no > working experience of. > > I need to know the pros and cons of having R on corporate desktops. > > Please no funny stuff, this is quite a serious issue for us. > > Pros and cons would be good. > > Thanks.You can probably expect to get some "funny stuff" along with any useful advice you do get. It is almost impossible to answer this question without knowing what you want to use R for! You could tell your IT department that R is easy to install and well-behaved (i.e. it is self-contained and doesn't do nasty things to system libraries etc.), that it doesn't "phone home" or need to talk to servers outside your environment (unless you program it to, or unless you try to download & install additional packages), that it is used by a very wide range of reputable companies (see a variety of discussions on this list, or see http://www.r-project.org/foundation/memberlist.html ), ... but the most important thing should presumably be whether it helps you do your job ... The license is unrestrictive, unless you want to redistribute a modified version, in which case it requires you to provide source code and allow redistribution ... Cons: like any software, it takes time and space to install (although not very much). R develops rapidly and there is little support for "obsolete" versions. The software comes without support, but you can pay for third-party support.
stephen's mailinglist account
2009-Nov-22 21:45 UTC
[R] how do i persuade IT to install R on PCs ?? ...and should I ??
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