How many of your Help Desk problems are simply PEBKAC?*
What systems do you works on? Microshaft server, Linux, Unix, Iseries, other?
What percentage of time on average can you devote to developement rather than Help Desk and maintenance?
Do you prefer Microsoft or Mac or Linux for Business?
Jim Sr P/A but also helpdesk, server support, printer support, tape guy and etc.
Yup, mostly ID-ten-T stuff. Like any tech guy, I’ve got a number of stories about my users.
I work on MS Server (from NT 4 to 2003), plus some Debian for web stuff. Desktops are mostly XP Pro, plus some Tablet edition, with a few Macs here and there.
In a 40 hour week, I can get a solid 5 hours of development, unless it’s a new project, in which case it gets prioritized much higher and I can do 20-30. (Times like that we’ll bring in a consultant for a few days to handle the day-to-day stuff.)
For business, I still prefer Windows, if only for the applications. I wouldn’t dream of accounting on a Mac (still haven’t found a suitable package), but here, our CRM is ASP based, and get this - they only support IE on Windows. In this day and age, that’s appalling, but they’ve got enough clients that they obviously don’t care. So I’m locked in, like it or not.
When I was a consultant, we did alot of Filemaker development, so we saw both networks. This was pre-OS X days, and the Mac networks were rather poor, but Filemaker didn’t care much. Again, no accounting packages. From what I’ve seen of OS X server, it looks like huge steps have been made, and I’m a big fan of OS X on the desktop.
Unfortunately I’ve never really seen a complete Linux network so I can’t comment. I do like having it on my desktop, but only to screw around with. And of course it’s great on a server.
My days of AS/400 are over; one downside to working for a specific company as opposed to consulting - less exposure to other technologies.
If your office is full of Macs, does the IT guy look like this?
HEY! I’m a mac specialist, and I can assure you, there is plenty to do. After all, I’m in a tri platform environment, so I can always work on the PCs when the macs are working perfectly. So, I work on PCs alot.
The last big place I worked for had about 35 years worth of accumulated business specific (COBOL and gulp! ALGOL) code running on enormous Unisys machines. The code and data held covers about 15-20% of the UK populations financial data, after (many) takeovers and stuff. When I left in 2003, they were embarking on yet another feasibilty study to try move away from big iron and onto a platform that does not involve such gigantic licensing fees (and has a longer prospective shelf-life than Unisys) but I’m assuming that yet again there is no financially prudent way in which to do this. Have you any experience with projects to replace/port enormously complex legacy systems?
Every once in a while, I read that microsoft is cracking down on corporate piracy. I must ask: How common are these infringements and what forms do they take?
Fledgling AS/400 guy here.
I just started as a contractor for a fairly large company, and while I’m loving the very low workload, I’m now super stressed.
I’m a contractor, I can be dropped at the drop of a thing that drops often. I was surfing my livejournal, (totally allowed, totally acceptable) and clicked on a link that was a string of pics of a bottom-less girl posing on stairs. It was on my screen for about 5 seconds or so.
What are my odds for getting nailed, in your estimation? As far as I can tell, there is no blocking software in place. But I’m sure stuff is logged somewhere.
Also, how often do you run into people that used to be mainframe/AS400 and have transitioned successfully into network?
Hey Tristan, if it was one occurrence for 5 seconds, it will be ignored by most companies. In fact most companies do not pay close attention to daily Internet usage and only review the logs if there is a problem employee or very high bandwidth consumption.
I am a 14-year AS400 veteran now. The market has been weak for us since 2000.
If you can get projects dealing with SQL and JAVA you will probably be more marketable for your next job. I know several AS400 RPG programmers that are now fulltime MSCE network people. It is possible, but you should work at it early if you want to make the move.
Jim
Similar, but better dressed 
Truth told, I found many (but not all - no disrespect meant to NurseCarmen, MacTech or any others) corporate Mac technicians to be rather less competent than their Microsoft counterparts. I think this is because many of my old clients were fashion oriented, so their Mac IT was really just a designer who used to design in Photoshop or Illustrator on OS 9 who fell into the role - then OS X server was released and these people had no idea how to handle server-based computing.
Although Apple did have a certification program at that time, it seemed less of a requirement as compared to Microsoft’s program. Of course, my data is a few years old, and I hope that OS X server changed this.
I’m afraid I don’t - I was more going the other direction and upgrading home-grown databases to more robust software with real relational integrity.
I can’t cite exact statistics, but I would wager they’re common in the small business, more so in medium, and rare in large enterprises.
They can range from borrowing a friend’s CD and installing Windows or Office, downloading a code or crack from a P2P network, or, in medium-sized companies, purchasing a volume license direct, but installing more copies than licenses. Large corporations generally have stricter rules, more money and perhaps an audit specialist.
First off, your company may not even have logging software, so your odds are nil. Furthermore, I agree completely with What Exit? in that the logs are only examined unless there is a previous reason to suspect problems.
As for your transition, again I agree with What Exit?, but would add that it’s entirely on you to work towards your goal - I saw far too many mainframe workers who were complacent in their position and there was no incentive for the company to push for training.