Things I’ll miss

As a follow up to yesterday’s post, here’s a handful of things I’m going to miss about working in small business IT:

Autonomy:

I’ve pretty much been able to do whatever I want, however I want, within reason obviously. I think Firefox is a better browser, I install it on my PC. I think the place could use an intranet site, I cobble together some spare parts, use open source tools and build one. Since I’m the one responsible for making sure we stay legal with software licenses and I’m the one who will have to fix anything that gets broken because of a software install, I’m given pretty free reign.

Comfort Level:

I know our infrastructure like the back of my hand. I know where the points of failure are and how to determine which one might have failed. I know exactly how everything fits together and rarely have to guess about what might be impacted by any change.

I also know my users. I know who’s going to be difficult, who needs a little more hand-holding, and who just needs pointed in the right direction so they can work it out themselves.

Going someplace new changes this tremendously!

Flexibility:

Currently, if I need to leave for an hour or two, no big deal. My boss knows I will be here after hours enough to make that up, and I can pretty much determine my own priorities, because no one else really knows for sure what they should be. If I start to get a little burned out doing database reports, I can play around with the intranet site, or do some documentation for awhile.

Working desktop support changes that. I need to be available for users to answer questions and solve problems during the hours they expect me to be there. I have to focus on the problems as they come or are assigned to me by someone else.

Tomorrow, the other side. Things I won’t miss and/or am looking forward to!

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