This is true - it's like you're reading from my favorite book: The Practice of System and Network Administration, by Limoncelli, et al.
I'm working on a number of things to improve the environment as well, including 1) A front counter to the IT area with rotating staff assigned to it part time, greeting/blocking end-users, so that one of us can be away doing tickets with end-users when necessary and another doing uninterrupted project work. 2) We have a decent WiFi infrastructure, so I want a good netbook for the person doing the ticket work. We won't replacing our individual desktops - IT doesn't get the better equipment. 3) Along with the netbook, I am thinking about pushing for WiFi phones to replace the desktop phones, to interface with our Shortel system. I'm hoping to make this the exception to the better equipment rule. 4) Lots of team cross-training, so that each of us can handle all of the others duties in a pinch. Kurt On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 13:40, Brian Desmond<br...@briandesmond.com> wrote: > Right so deploying LUA is a project. Have to separate projects and > operations. If you can make operations a small part of your team's days then > you have more time for projects. Projects are the fun stuff but ops are what > most people measure you by. This is one of those ongoing issues with IT orgs > as they need to do both. I've seen some large ones split into two orgs - one > ops one engineering/projects. Solves the problem but tends to have a lot of > political side effects. > > Thanks, > Brian Desmond > br...@briandesmond.com > > c - 312.731.3132 > > Active Directory, 4th Ed - http://www.briandesmond.com/ad4/ > Microsoft MVP - https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Brian > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Kurt Buff [mailto:kurt.b...@gmail.com] > Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 3:31 PM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: Re: Is there a SharePoint Expert that can help me out? 2.0 - 3.0 > PROBLEMS > > While I agree with the general approach, I believe that my higher impact task > is to get LUA implemented. Not that we can't/shouldn't do as you suggest > anyway, but I'm over 90% certain that most of our problems are end-user > configuration issues. The other thing is that my two guys are relatively > young in their careers, although they are very sharp, and they are still > learning many of the fundamentals. > > I'll be reviewing the ticketing system too, to see if I can pick out anything > that could be done better. > > Kurt > > On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 13:01, Brian Desmond<br...@briandesmond.com> wrote: >> What I would suggest doing is have everyone on your team make a list of the >> tasks they do, each time they do them for a couple weeks. At the end tally >> it all up and see where you're spending your time and then dedicate time to >> figuring out how to automate as much as possible of the top tasks. Even if >> it's a really amateur script, getting that step done means you can spend >> your time on something else. >> >> Three good people is enough to run A LOT of stuff if you're efficient about >> it. >> >> Thanks, >> Brian Desmond >> br...@briandesmond.com >> >> c - 312.731.3132 >> >> Active Directory, 4th Ed - http://www.briandesmond.com/ad4/ Microsoft >> MVP - https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Brian >> >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: Kurt Buff [mailto:kurt.b...@gmail.com] >> Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 2:39 PM >> To: NT System Admin Issues >> Subject: Re: Is there a SharePoint Expert that can help me out? 2.0 - >> 3.0 PROBLEMS >> >> Yeah, I find it highly unlikely that our execs would see the benefit in >> shelling out that kind of cash annually, but I sure do wish they would. >> >> I may try to make the case anyway, especially given that I'm running >> especially lean after losing one of my team and not getting a replacement. >> It's just three of us on the Infrastructure team, supporting the users and >> all of the associated servers, routers/switches/firewalls, printers, >> Blackberry, etc. >> >> Gotta be cheaper than hiring another guy, if I can get my team (and >> me!) up to speed on the things we're supporting. I know we can be a >> lot more efficient, but that's partly politics (getting policies >> approved and being allowed to enforce them) and partly education (just >> how do you get end users to not be Administrators on their >> workstations for these 12 apps, and how can we deploy them >> automagically via GP, among many other questions?) >> >> Kurt >> >> On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 12:18, Brian Desmond<br...@briandesmond.com> wrote: >>> There's a base one that doesn't have a lot of the benefits that's in the >>> $15K range annually. Premiere works on a hours basis - you buy a block of >>> hours and can use them for various things, support, training, onsite >>> engagements, etc. >>> >>> Agreed it's unlikely to make sense for a small firm on the outside, but, if >>> your business depends on your IT systems and you lose money when they >>> break, it's insurance. With a pro case there's no SLA to escalate a Sev A >>> case to CPR at the four hour mark. >>> >>> Thanks, >>> Brian Desmond >>> br...@briandesmond.com >>> >>> c - 312.731.3132 >>> >>> >>> -----Original Message----- >>> From: Kurt Buff [mailto:kurt.b...@gmail.com] >>> Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 12:32 PM >>> To: NT System Admin Issues >>> Subject: Re: Is there a SharePoint Expert that can help me out? 2.0 - >>> 3.0 PROBLEMS >>> >>> Just how much does a premier contract cost? When you are a manufacturing >>> company of less than 300 people, I doubt you can afford it. >>> >>> So far all this discussion does is warn me to stay away from SharePoint. >>> >>> Kurt >>> >>> On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 07:24, Brian Desmond<br...@briandesmond.com> wrote: >>>> A lot of this is also a function of the fact that you get totally >>>> different support if you Ь ╨ ▓re calling on a pro case (when you >>>> call and put it on a credit card) versus a premier contract. >>>> Premiere support comes with SLAs, a TAM to complain to, etc. The pro >>>> cases folks are outsourced and come with none of that. You get what >>>> you pay for essentia т Ь ФР ╝ ╢ >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> >>>> Brian Desmond >>>> >>>> br...@briandesmond.com >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> c - 312.731.3132 >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> From: Rob Bonfiglio [mailto:robbonfig...@gmail.com] >>>> Sent: Friday, July 31, 2009 9:03 AM >>>> To: NT System Admin Issues >>>> Subject: Re: Is there a SharePoint Expert that can help me out? 2.0 >>>> - 3.0 PROBLEMS >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> I had a call once that last for about 12 hours...but that was mostly >>>> b/c the SharePoint engineer didn't seem to know much about >>>> SQL...after about 10-11 hours of working he got a SQL engineer on >>>> the phone and it was fixed pretty quickly. >>>> >>>> On Fri, Jul 31, 2009 at 9:42 AM, Carol Fee <c...@massbar.org> wrote: >>>> >>>> +1 on that. You really did get lucky. PSS for SharePoint and MOSS >>>> +is not >>>> spiffy. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> CFee >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> ________________________________ >>>> >>>> From: Ken Schaefer [mailto:k...@adopenstatic.com] >>>> >>>> Sent: Thursday, July 30, 2009 8:05 PM >>>> >>>> To: NT System Admin Issues >>>> Subject: RE: Is there a SharePoint Expert that can help me out? 2.0 >>>> - 3.0 PROBLEMS >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Four hours is nothing ;-) >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> We ФЬ ╨▓ve had PSS calls open for weeks with SharePoint. Had >>>> another SharePoint + DPM issue that went all the way back to the PGs >>>> to have them figure out which of the two products (or how they were >>>> interacting) was breaking DPM. I think that was 6 weeks all up. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Cheers >>>> >>>> Ken >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> From: Marty Nelson [mailto:mnel...@transdyn.com] >>>> Sent: Friday, 31 July 2009 1:03 AM >>>> To: NT System Admin Issues >>>> Subject: RE: Is there a SharePoint Expert that can help me out? 2.0 >>>> - 3.0 PROBLEMS >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> I ended up on the phone with MS for four hours so something went >>>> really wrong and thank god they knew where to fix it! >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Thanks again for the suggestions. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -Marty >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> From: Ken Schaefer [mailto:k...@adopenstatic.com] >>>> Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 6:20 PM >>>> To: NT System Admin Issues >>>> Subject: RE: Is there a SharePoint Expert that can help me out? 2.0 >>>> - 3.0 PROBLEMS >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> The Configuration Database is an SQL Server (or MSDE) database somewhere. >> а т Ь ФР Ь ╨ ▓s usually called SharePoint_Config (for MOSS at >>least). >>>So, you >>>> have to have SQL Server or MSDE somewhere, and it needs to be hosting this >>>> database. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> You can run the SharePoint Technologies Configuration Wizard to >>>> reconnect to the database, but you obviously need to know what your >>>> SQL Server name/instance is... >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Cheers >>>> Ken >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> From: Marty Nelson [mailto:mnel...@transdyn.com] >>>> Sent: Thursday, 30 July 2009 3:49 AM >>>> To: NT System Admin Issues >>>> Subject: RE: Is there a SharePoint Expert that can help me out? 2.0 >>>> - 3.0 PROBLEMS >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Sorry, a little more info. This is running on a W2K3 SP@ machine with IE7. >>>> Now it т Ь Ф ▓s degraded to the point to where I cannot even connect >>>> to the central management page. Say ФЬ Р гCannot connect to the >>>> configuration database. Ф ФР >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Now when I set this up originally YEARS ago, I accepted all of the >>>> defaults and now have no idea where the data resides. I have ~* >>>> very lightly used SharePoint sites, none of which are available at the >>>> moment. >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> This database error is a new phenomenon since I last posted >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> Thanks, >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -Marty >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> From: Marty Nelson [mailto:mnel...@transdyn.com] >>>> Sent: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 10:20 AM >>>> To: NT System Admin Issues >>>> Subject: Is there a SharePoint Expert that can help me out? 2.0 - >>>> 3.0 PROBLEMS >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> So I started the workup to this upgrade yesterday. Got all of the >>>> prereq stuff loaded, ran a prescan everything came back dandy. Ran the >>>> upgrade, >>>> looked like it finished with no problems. And tha ФЬ Т Ф ▓s where >>>> it fell off of >>>> a cliff. Looking at the upgrade.log file there are some errors and >>>> failures, but I have no idea what it means, much less how to fix them. >>>> If there Ь ╨ ▓s anyone out there that can help me out I would greatly >>>> appreciate it! >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> FWIW, these are the instructions т Ь ФР ▓ve been following: >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc424954.aspx >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> PLEASE HELP! >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> -Marty >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>> ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ >>> <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ >>> >>> >>> ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ >>> <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ >> >> ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ >> <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ >> >> >> ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ >> <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ > <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
