I researched hardware manufacturers, compared customer satisfaction, and settled on a well-respected vendor that could provide everything we needed, especially top-notch support and a great price. I was ready to sign on the dotted line.

First, I had to submit my purchase plans to the boss. Instead of the rubber stamp I was expecting, he told me that an acquaintance had recommended a PC vendor I had already decided against. I disagreed and explained why. He didn't care; he ordered me to buy from the other guy's company. It felt like a slap in the face, but I complied.

A few weeks later it was time for off-site training on the new software. But when it came time to buy plane tickets, management decided to send one of the loan VPs instead of me.

"You're just the IT guy," my boss told me. "These guys have to use it every day. Don't worry, they'll bring you all the manuals." Yeah, right. Turns out the software vendor relied exclusively on customer training for the product; there was no technical manual! I was starting to get nervous.

Two months after we rolled out the system, the server crashed and burned, managing to corrupt several key files before it fried the hard disk. Although there was a backup server, those corrupt files were copied over before the system went down. Valid users were locked out when their log-in data was lost, and I had not been trained on how to add users to the software. Critical time was lost while I burned up the phone lines with software support.