I Never Stop being Amazed by People

People never stop amazing me when it comes to technology. Many let it intimidate them to the point where they feel unable to walk through a simple troubleshooting process. What also gets me is that these people have been working with computers for years! Why am I worked up today? I have to show someone how to change a default printer.

For all the flak that Microsoft gets they really do try to make simple tasks, simple. They even have a "Printers" button in the start menu for crying out loud! As an IT guy, who was in the middle of troubleshooting backup issues, it frustrates me when I have to stop what I'm doing to tell someone how to use this "Printers" section of Windows.

However, since I am Tall, Dark and IT, I put on a different set of lenses. I would much rather be bothered about a simple issue, than someone who tried to troubleshoot the problem themselves and REALLY hosed something up. I encourage people to not be intimidated and to try things themselves… but it really is a fine line between when to troubleshoot and when to ask the IT guy for help. I know that this lady didn't want to bother me with what she knew was a trivial problem but in reality, that's what I'm paid for.

I must appreciate that these people don't want to take up my time but they also don't want to make the problem worse. I am a big believer in teaching people how to fish, so I try not to be frustrated when they ask what hook they should be using.

My Thoughts on Social Media

A couple of years ago I attended a class on how to use social media for a business advantage. It focused on building an audience by fulfilling a need. The instructor suggested using blogs, Twitter, Facebook, and other social media tools to advertise and build your brand but to never forget your intended audience (or customers). The strategy was very active; not at all passive. It made perfect sense.

I made a strategic decision that I could not put in a good amount of time to use social media effectively for the company I work for. I went through the steps of securing usernames and handles but never implemented a social media strategy. I did, however, develop a passion for using social media in my personal life. Not building a brand or making a name for myself, per se, but using social media to build relationships with people I would normally have no contact with.

There are many people I follow because they do fulfill a need; whether that be knowledge, comedy, or information. There are also people I follow because we're friends and we interact with each other.

Some of the people I follow  are no longer fulfilling my needs. I've evaluated my thoughts  about why I no longer value their social media streams and here are my conclusions:

1. I am no longer their intended audience
   My thought is they are changing their intended audience to gain something; the jury is still out on whether it's more followers, more exposure, 'building their brand' or financial implications. It's also possible that my tastes and/or needs have changed and thus I no longer value their social media stream (more on that in point #4).
2. They are trying too hard to fulfill or to create a need
   Everyone has met somebody who is trying too hard to be friendly. It's not that we dislike these people; it's just that these people don't come off as genuine. It's hard for me to value the opinion of someone who isn't genuine.
3. I value the subject in short bursts, but not every 5 minutes for 5 hours a day
   In my opinion, social media is most effective when it's concise. I am a busy person and I enjoy reading my social media streams but I can become overstimulated on a topic rather quickly. A few tweets a day that are enlightening and or funny is acceptable.
4. The need has been fulfilled
   I tend to follow people in which I share common interests. Sometimes their interests change and sometimes mine do. If I'm no longer interested in the subject I no longer have a need. Also, it's not uncommon for me to follow a brand in order to get customer service. If the service is complete, the need gets fulfilled by definition and I move on.

I understand the desire to 'build a brand' and get famous for my thoughts and opinions. I also understand that I am one of almost 7 billion people in a world that doesn't need one more schmuck on the internet who rams his ideas down other peoples throats. All that to say, I'm pretty sure I'm guilty of all of these things at one point or another. These are simply my opinions and they probably don't really matter.

Any Android users out there?

I apologize now for this post. I am an Android user and this post contains a lot of terminology related to Android. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to comment!

I absolutely love my Android phone (HTC Droid Incredible). The first day I got it I rooted it and searched for different ROMs to put on the device. I started off with a ROM using HTC's Sense UI but decided I wanted more of the stock Android experience. I discovered CyanogenMod and didn't look back.

I am very excited at the possibility of a decent Android tablet coming to the market soon so I am trying to migrate a lot of my workflow into the Android environment (I rely heavily on Exchange and some of the services they provide and am migrating to the equivalent Google service) to make my potential tablet more effective. I recently discovered Google Reader and have fallen in love with it! The problem is, it appears to crash my phone.

I am running CyanogenMod 6.1 (stable). Since I started running Google Reader (February 2nd), my phone will work great for a day or so but then Google Reader causes force close after force close. I reset the device but get caught in a boot loop (the boot screen loads, freezes then the device resets itself). I have been making backups like crazy so I don't lose any data but I do lose about an hour of my life as I get my phone operational.

I was discussing my issue with another Android-loving friend of mine and he gave me the confidence to try a nightly build of CyanogenMod v7 (beta).  V7 is built on Gingerbread which I'm very excited to try. My hope is that this fixes my FC issue using Google Reader. 

I know, let's have the IT guy do it!

I was recently asked to add users to our computer system. This requires me to add users to the login system, give them email addresses, add them to our ERP and data management systems, provision the computer with the proper rights for that user, and finally setting up their accounts under their user profile. This process doesn't take a whole lot of time but it takes thought and planning to execute.

Once I verify that everything is setup properly (for the user and the computer), it is my assumption that the supervisor will take over and make sure the users know what they need to know. After operating this way for a couple years I was informed (by the users' supervisor)  that this assumption is incorrect. The supervisor told me that the users had no previous computer experience and that it was my responsibility to show them how to log into and use the system.

I understand the argument but I feel that it's being used as an excuse to hand off responsibility (this isn't an isolated incident; this type of thing happens a lot in every company). Why can't a supervisor (someone who is familiar with computers and is familiar with the users' new role) show someone how to press alt+ctrl+del, type a password, move the cursor to the "Outlook" icon and double-click the mouse?

If someone needed training on Microsoft Access or how to manipulate files or data in our PDM system then I wouldn't give this request a second thought. But please take responsibility for your subordinates (and yourself). If they need to learn something and you have the knowledge and the capability to do so… train them. Don't pawn your job off on the IT guy.

Let's blame the IT guy

I understand the reality that everything that goes wrong is the IT guy's fault; but I just 'realized' it today.

If a server goes down, a network switch dies, computers run slow, etc… it's my fault. Even if I've done all the preventative maintenance that I can… it's my fault. I know what I signed up for when I took this job. What I didn't sign up for is people blaming me because I don't do their job for them.

I was recently approached by a colleague who prefaced their question with 'I've been wanting to ask you a question for weeks but just haven't gotten around to it...' I assumed this implied 'My question isn't urgent but I would like to know the answer. The next time you have a few minutes would you please help me understand something?' I cordially said that I was currently swamped but would come to her office when I had a few minutes.

My assumption was incorrect. She sought me out every hour asking if I'd forgotten about her. As I would walk around the office people would ask me if she had found me yet and that she was looking for me. I soon learned that she had been under the gun for several weeks on a project and had just been pulled to the mat (so to speak). I was now the excuse as to why she couldn't get her work done. It was my fault that she couldn't turn the project in on time.

When she came to me again around 4:30 she told me what her issue was; she was unable to locate a file that she needed. I told her to tell me where the last known whereabouts were and I would find the file. Two days later I get an email with a file location. 30 seconds later I responded to her email with the new location of the file (thank you Windows Indexing Service).

I realize that I have control over a lot of systems at my workplace and am paid to keep them up and running. Sometimes things are out of my control and fall apart. But please, understand that I have a job to do just as you. If you need something from me I will do my best to fulfill your request in a timely manner. But don't put off your job, get with me right before it's crunch-time and expect me to do your job for you. Also, don't blame me if you don't do your job.

My Work is Cyclic

There are many roles in the IT world. In many large corporations they spread the IT workload across multiple, narrowly focused roles. In smaller companies, such as the one I work for, there is a small department of IT professionals that focus on all aspects of IT. The department is really small in my company; I am the only IT professional.

In my role at work, I am the hardware  and software specialist, network engineer, server infrastructure specialist, help desk, and the list goes on. My first priority is to keep all of the employee computers up and running and thus one of my primary roles is desktop support. When I don't have to fix malware issues or crashing computers I work on the projects I develop to better our computer and server infrastructure. This might include extending our wireless network coverage, implementing networked video cameras, replacing aging servers, or virtualizing our physical servers.

These variables (among others) make my workload very cyclic. When things are busy, I often work 10-12 hour days (both at work and at home) and even nights and weekends. When my workload is light it gives me the opportunity to research preventative implementations and measures and develop future project plans (and I can often go home early, allowing me to work from home in the evenings).

The change of pace in my job can be frustrating at times but it's also welcomed. I appreciate being able to take my time planning initiatives but enjoy tackling time-consuming projects when the need arises. But don't worry, we just purchased $50,000 in software and $15,000 in server hardware that I get to install.

I wish I worked Bankers' Hours

I get harassed a lot because of the hours I seem to work. First shift starts promptly at 7 AM (it starts at 6 AM if we are especially busy), engineering must be at their desks and working by no later than 8 and office staff start there day around 8:30.

I get to work by 8:30. I have an hour drive to work and mornings aren't the best time of the day for me. I get through my day and end up going home anywhere between 3:30 and 5 (usually, I try to leave by 4). Now for the keen observer, you might note that I am at my place of work for less than 8 hours on an average day. However, just because I'm not at work doesn't mean I'm not working.

I usually get home around 5:00, spend some time with my family, then log into work around 8 or so. On any given evening I will need to apply updates to servers, restart rogue processes, install software on a user's machine, troubleshoot issues with machines, among many other mundane tasks.

My ultimate goal is for IT to be as unobtrusive as possible. In order to meet that goal I often have to do a lot of work on what most people would call their personal time. IT guys can't necessarily leave their work at the office. If something needs fixed, I fix it whether it's at 11 AM or 9 PM.

So go ahead and give me a hard time. I may not put in a full day at the office, but please don't imply that I get by with doing less work than anybody else. If you do harass me though, I might be inclined to give you a phone call and invite you to ride with me as I go into work at 4 AM to fix a RAID that crashed on a server.