timknapp

In IT Operations, the biggest challenge I see is the employees grasping to that box and they fear change.  People usually think the keeper of the box is IT Management.  This may be true is some cases but it is usually the employees who’s responsibility is to support this box.  Change is the way they have neglected doing continued education and finding better ways to do the job. As a consultant we get called in from management to help, as they know they need change and they are ready to embrace it.  When statements of work get ironed out with what deliverables they desire is to get their team on-board.  It is a harsh reality but the biggest challenge is the team.  If it is supporting Windows 7 now and not Windows XP, or having a new delivery method for their Operating System build / deployments, software delivery, in which now they have to learn new standards, or getting away from WSUS and start using System Center to manage their updates. As people get comfortable with the day to day and not realize how un-healthy and non-optimized  their structure is. As Bill Gate’s said it best:

“The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”

First mistake about System Center Configuration Manager (CM) it will not fix an un-healthy environment.  In fact it will not be successful if it is the other way around.  A challenge when going into any organization is letting them know in a convincing and well manner way their is a better way of doing this. When tackling an engagement for systems management the first thing to do is tackle Active Directory.  You identify clients that have not logged into the domain for a set amount of time, and create a process to move those clients into a Organizational Unit (OU) that is not monitored by CM.  After that identification is done then the process can go on managing the clients, via in-place refreshes, OS migration, software delivery, and software updates. Now with CM 2012 you have the ability to manage anti-virus with forefront integrated, and with the direct access coming around with PKI you will start seeing cloud distribution points.  But there is plenty of information for you to read on the internet about the features. You will need to think outside of your Organization’s box and strive for optimization.  You will not be successful and cause more work then it is necessary.  Only you can strive to bring you IT Operations group to the next level and be that trend setter you organization.

As a Analyst in IT Operations working his way up starting at the bottom you see a trend in the IT department where Server System Managers are treated higher and more important as the Desktop Managers.  Well I am writing this to debunk this myth.

Your IT Operations SMS Admins are very important.  Like in my past position I oversaw 7000 workstations in 8 different division, at home employees, resources in India, and mobile workers who only log onto the domain a couple times a month.  Unfortunately we didn’t have the PKI infrastructure for Native support and we are running SCCM 2007 R3 SP2.  Needless to say the server managers have all there end points / resources typically in a data center and/or network closet and which are on 24×7.    So right there off the bat there systems stays contestant in location, and like in IT Operations there is a lot more turn over from a normal stand point.  Server hardware rarely gets migrated to a new OS before its end of life cycle has been reached.

Role based servers in which access is highly restricted do not get used to browse the web.  When servers are compromised it is mostly due brute attacks specifically targeted.  IT Operations deals with each system that it supports. General employees are the biggest risk with dealing with IT Operations Systems Management.

The environment is ever changing and business needs never stay the same.  If it is new software or the business thinking a specific group needs local administrative access to perform a job function.  Did I mention developers are part of IT Operations.  Supporting them is like teaching a infant how to talk.  It is very difficult and are always thinking there job is the most important.  Dealing with sensitive groups who expect yes on everything becomes difficult in trying to maintain a healthy IT Operations environment.

When IT Operations environment is fragmented and not centrally managed you cannot roam between boundaries, and dealing with the Active Directory group in a huge environment becomes ever more difficult.  Now when you do have a centralized system, you have to make sure firewall ports are open for roaming end points to communicate with the local Management Point.  Do you see where I am going with this.  Challenges are not rare in IT Operations, and getting all the Business Groups with so called VIPs in them on the same page just makes it more difficult.

One day organizations will realize how important and difficult it is to manage desktops, laptops, mobile devices in changing environment.

Remember change is the only constant in this algorithm.