What Hath We Wrought - First Month's Review
I walked into my new job with all kinds of notions. Many of those were based on my last job, also a non-profit. There, as the one-man IT department, I had managed to encourage respect for the IT infrastructure as a business interest and the IT department as a staff resource. Observation told me this was happening at other non-profits as well and was encouraged when I was made an offer from the new company.
From what I understood this was a company waiting for change; one whose staff was fed up with the structural neglect. I thought I would be able to bypass the part where I must encourage business interest in the information technology and convince staff to use the IT department (i.e. me) as a resource for accomplishing their goals. I was quite wrong and quite unprepared and this led to much frustration. I realized that despite wanting change, the company was not ready for it (post). The psychological component, the Technical Social Working skills I've mentioned, really needed to be implemented.
Still, despite politics, bureaucracy, and an uncooperative work environment, some things were accomplished in this first month. As a result of the Exchange service reaching its maximum (post), for the first time mailboxes have been capped preventing a repeat of this occurrence. Staff were then instructed on how to maintain mailbox size in a way that gave them some control over the situation. No one likes being dictated to, so a tiered warning system was implemented (post).
To combat the spam plague (post), it looks like a contract for an offsite spam filter will be signed this week.
I'm finalizing a plan to upgrade the hardware and software in the company. Fighting with TechSoup and Microsoft licensing (post) I think I have devised the most cost-effective solution that should keep the company current for several years. On the hardware side, setting up accounts with favored vendors has helped me obtain great pricing (post).
Most important to me was security vulnerabilities (post). The greatest hole in our system is human. I seem to have made some progress. At the very least our backup tapes will be in an in-house safe for most of the week. Once a week they will still be leaving the premises to go to the boss's home. Despite his reluctance, I have been speaking to professional offsite archival companies.
Additionally, every computer was patched. Some needed over 100 MB of patches. The last admin thought it best to leave automatic updates off but I see no reason for that on workstations until I've setup WSUS (post).
Considering it's the first month on the job, I'm satisfied that several necessary changes have been set in motion. I suppose I should not have expected much more so early since learning the company's setup, culture, and workflow will be ongoing for a little while longer. I am determined to make the basic changes as soon as possible so then I can focus on specific business needs. Still the struggles at work (post) make my status unstable. Wonder what the next month-end review will bring.
From what I understood this was a company waiting for change; one whose staff was fed up with the structural neglect. I thought I would be able to bypass the part where I must encourage business interest in the information technology and convince staff to use the IT department (i.e. me) as a resource for accomplishing their goals. I was quite wrong and quite unprepared and this led to much frustration. I realized that despite wanting change, the company was not ready for it (post). The psychological component, the Technical Social Working skills I've mentioned, really needed to be implemented.
Still, despite politics, bureaucracy, and an uncooperative work environment, some things were accomplished in this first month. As a result of the Exchange service reaching its maximum (post), for the first time mailboxes have been capped preventing a repeat of this occurrence. Staff were then instructed on how to maintain mailbox size in a way that gave them some control over the situation. No one likes being dictated to, so a tiered warning system was implemented (post).
To combat the spam plague (post), it looks like a contract for an offsite spam filter will be signed this week.
I'm finalizing a plan to upgrade the hardware and software in the company. Fighting with TechSoup and Microsoft licensing (post) I think I have devised the most cost-effective solution that should keep the company current for several years. On the hardware side, setting up accounts with favored vendors has helped me obtain great pricing (post).
Most important to me was security vulnerabilities (post). The greatest hole in our system is human. I seem to have made some progress. At the very least our backup tapes will be in an in-house safe for most of the week. Once a week they will still be leaving the premises to go to the boss's home. Despite his reluctance, I have been speaking to professional offsite archival companies.
Additionally, every computer was patched. Some needed over 100 MB of patches. The last admin thought it best to leave automatic updates off but I see no reason for that on workstations until I've setup WSUS (post).
Considering it's the first month on the job, I'm satisfied that several necessary changes have been set in motion. I suppose I should not have expected much more so early since learning the company's setup, culture, and workflow will be ongoing for a little while longer. I am determined to make the basic changes as soon as possible so then I can focus on specific business needs. Still the struggles at work (post) make my status unstable. Wonder what the next month-end review will bring.
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