Some of you may know that I recently accepted a new position as the Network and Web Administrator for Generations Incorporated. If you've read this blog for long, you know also that I'm currently working desktop support for Boston University. It's about 10:30 here in Boston and I was thinking about the transition in skills and knowledge of a job such as this. Desktop support with Information Systems Planning and Support has been a really great experience where I've learned a great deal from the technical aspects to time management and relationship maintenance. These are all skills that I'm able to apply to this new organization I'm working with. Unfortunately, as a student employee and the nature of the desktop support position, I have not learned much in the way of server technology. Sure, this means that Generations Inc (GI) took a bit of a gamble with me since their prior admin was basically a brain-child genius. On the other hand, having worked in an environment where you don't always see the whole picture or deal with users that honestly don't know what happened, I have learned the ability to troubleshoot problems. Perhaps this, the ability to systematically find problems and resolve them in an orderly fashion, has been the greatest benefit I've gained from my work with ISPS.
Troubleshooting skills aside, I face a large learning curve when it comes to specific technology such as Windows 2003 Server, Windows Small Business Server, Terminal Services Server, and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003. These particular OS's are my bread and butter - the daily grind if you will. My primary tasks on a day to day basis are communicated via the task application of outlook and revolve around server maintenance and backup, desktop user support (similar to my position with ISPS), and longer term research and development projects.
I think I'll mention a couple of the projects I'm working on right now. The first, a full inventory and audit of computer assets, users, policies, and infrastructure. This is a rather basic concept - figure out what we have, where it is, and who uses it, then make changes as necessary. Since we're such a small shop, it won't be difficult to get any one bit of information but to do the updates and remediation that I think will be necessary, I expect that I'll need some out of hours time. The other big project I'm working on is to align mobile computing to our network where users with Blackberries will be able to sync with our servers or perhaps Windows Mobile devices will use the AirSync technology. I'm still in the research phase for this project, gathering the raw numbers and information to then present to the directors in a report.
So what spurned all of this? Well, I was bored for one. I'm in the midst of a book that teaches the Windows 2003 Server information in a crash course sort of way. I've been reading about installing, domain controllers, all sorts of bits about network infrastructure that I just needed a bit of a break and here I am. In any case, I will bring this to a close. I know I haven't been writing often but I think that my more regimented schedule will do well for my publishing cycle.
Thank you to all that continue to read and support City Streets, my professional blog and website!