New Adventures at Microsoft

I love being a Sys Admin.  For the last 15 years, I've learned so much about managing systems and working with the people that use those systems to accomplish their jobs. Plus, over the last several years, I've enjoyed being part of the IT Professional community, through the PacITPros User Group, from attending and staffing conferences like TechMentor, TechEd and TechDays and as a Microsoft MVP. 

I've made so many great connections, learned many cool new things.  Not sure I would consider having it any other way. But sometimes an opportunity opens up that takes you in a different (but related!) direction and that's what has happened to me.

As of yesterday, I've joined Microsoft as an IT Pro Evangelist.  I'm looking forward to getting to spend more time with the IT community and hopefully, learning a lot more things I can share!  I'll be primarily responsible for the Bay Area, so don't worry, I won't be going far. :-)

Women in Tech Panel from TechDays SF Featured on RunAs Radio

For those of you who weren't at TechDays SF in early May, we held a Women in Technology panel as one of our featured sessions.  Richard Campbell from RunAs Radio was our host, and as an added bonus the session was recorded so it could be made available later.

You'll find the whole hour as show #317. Join me, Jessica DeVita, Christa Anderson and CA Callahan as we talk about how we started out in technology, what we love, what is challenging and we hope more woman can see what's great about the nuts and bolts that make our jobs rewarding.

Personally, I'll never get over how different my voice sounds compared to the one in my head.

Favorited Tweets from the Past!!!

I often use the "favorite" feature of Twitter as a quick way to bookmark links I want to read more closely or visit again.  It's always interesting to see what I thought needed a second look.  Here are a few related to technology or science:

• 5/9/13, @wired - Computer guts get an eerie makeover. http://bit.ly/17SnmdY
• 4/17/13, @acardwell - Just saw this GE ad and wow - does GE not get that Agent Smith was the bad guy and that the matrix is a bad thing?  http://youtu.be/loinY8MmVq8
• 4/17/13, @thurrott - Microsoft Account Gets Enhanced Security http://bit.ly/11w70ok
• 4/16/13, @wired - Microsoft wants to be more like Amazon. And Amazon wants to be more like Microsoft. http://oak.ctx.ly/r/41n8
• 4/11/13, ‏@expta - Individual Fix for Exchange Soft Delete Problem Proves Worth of Support Contracts http://bit.ly/Zky7zY  #MSExchange #IamMEC
• 3/13/13, ‏@ExchServPro - Google Reader. You can (a) protest loudly, or (b) start moving your critical needs away from Google's services. I'm going with (b) I think.
• 11/17/12, ‏@mars_seven - Top 10 Active Directory Tasks Solved with PowerShell http://zite.to/S5T67R  via @zite
• 8/30/12, ‏@rdfrs - “Bionic eye goes live in world first by Australian researchers" - Kate Hagan - http://theage.com.au  http://bit.ly/OB2Jvt
• 8/12/12, ‏@anca - For @menslow: A child's skull, before their milk teeth fall out. This is freakier than all the Alien films combined. pic.twitter.com/ru7nCOy6
• 8/19/11, ‏@afranq - How to Win at Rock, Paper, Scissors - http://kiq.me/F5Z

TechEd 2013 Is Just Around the Corner!

One of my most favorite IT Pro conferences is Microsoft TechEd.  This year would have been my 10th TechEd to attend in a row, but alas, I have a conflict and won't be there this year.  Still, I wanted to mention a few things you might want to check out if YOU are going to be there.

• If it's your first time attending, you want to be sure to grab some sessions from some historically popular speakers. You can't go wrong making sure that Jeffrey Snover, Greg Shields, Mark Russinovich, Mark Minasi, Stephen Rose, Paula Januszkiewicz, J. Peter Bruzzese, and Chris Henley are on your schedule.  Or at least a few of them. :-)
• Don't forget to check out the great TechEd Primer on the Springboard Series Blog
• Sometimes it can get overwhelming to sit in breakout session after breakout session. Don't overlook the smaller venue Birds-of-a-Feather topics where the conversations can be more intimate and detail oriented.
• If you are in certification mode, exams are 50% off!
• Are you a woman in technology?  Do you know a woman in technology? Enjoy a sit-down lunch served while listening to a panel discussion at the Women in Technology Luncheon.  Support your female colleagues and beat the lunch line - win, win!
• If it's not your first time attending and you think you have the "stuff" to present at a future TechEd, don't hesitate to participate in Speaker Idol. Hosted by Richard Campbell from RunAs Radio, you can win an all expenses paid speaking slot at the next TechEd.  The only rule is that you can't have presented a TechEd breakout session in the past. 
• What to make connections that last longer than a week? Don't forget about the Community Resource Zone where you learn about resources to expand your professional network beyond the reach of the conference or your office walls.

No matter how you schedule your week, you won't leave New Orleans disappointed.  You'll have learned a few things, made a few new contacts and be geared up to start some new projects in the office.  If nothing else, don't forget to come back and tell me what I missed!

Your Tier 1 Support is in the Wrong Place

Lots of us started there. Depending on the size of the company you work for, you might still be doing some of it.  Classic Tier 1 support calls are often things like password changes, mouse and keyboard issues, other things often resolved with the end user either rebooting their machine and logging out and back in.

And I'm almost certain that you have the wrong people handling that job, particularly if that person is you or someone one your team who is also responsible for other more technical projects. Stick with me on this for a minute.

I've always been a big advocate of the administration departments and the IT departments working closely together and I think that any administrative or executive assistant worth their salt can handle most Tier 1 Helpdesk tickets. Here's why: they already have their hand on the pulse of pretty major areas of your company and often work directly with executives and managers.

They know what guests and visitors are coming to your location - relevant IT tasks include providing WiFi passwords to guests, explaining how to use the phones and A/V systems and alerting IT ahead of time to guest that need additional resources.

They know when Execs are grumbling about IT issues that can become emergencies (noisy hard drives, problems with applications) and can let IT know ahead of time of pending maintenance issues. 

They can easily be cc'd on emails regarding upcoming password expiration for key executives or managers and make sure those people complete those tasks in a timely manner. Resetting passwords and unlocking accounts is a easy activity that can be delegated out to admin staff with a quick training session. With the proper permissions, you can only give them the abilities they need and nothing more.

Opening tickets, resetting voicemail passwords for phone systems, replacing batteries in wireless mice, swapping out broken keyboards, changing printer toners, basic troubleshooting of printer jams, updating job titles in Active Directory... That's just off the top of my head.

So what good could come of this? First off, there is a big lack of women in systems admin roles. I was just on a WiT panel last week discussing how to get more women into this role. Turns out, 3 out of 4 women on the panel started in administrative roles. It's a great way for someone to get a glimpse into the "plumbing" of how systems and network administration keep businesses running. 

Second, most executive assistants are great managers of time and of people, and can often see and understand the big picture of how a company runs, all characteristics that make successful sysadmins. Letting them handle some of the front facing issues can also take away some of the "mystery" of the IT department.

Integrating these two functions can provide a great cost savings to your company, can provide a pipeline of future staff to pull from when you have an opening in the IT department and as a bonus, you're doing something to help more women begin their technical careers.

So go ahead, steal the receptionist.