life in the fast lane...

[secure_lockdown]

Originally posted here by SirDice
Patching windows is easily done if you setup a SUS (WUS) server.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserv...s/default.mspx

i got one of those. it's doesn't provide 100% coverage.

[secure_lockdown]

There seems to be both an organisational structure and communications problem in your environment. A Business Analyst should be an IT employee with responsibility for business divisions/functional units.

you can say that again!

but seriously folks. when this kind of stuff happens (and you never know - it might happen where you work) - you got to deal with it is a professional and productive way. (btw - crashing network hardware is not one of them - and if you get caught - you got a lot of explaining to do right before you go off to burgerking to flip burgers for a living.)

i am not divisional head (in my place IT fall under umbrella of another division). if you have concerns with how other areas are doing business - you don't go head to head with these people. you go bring it up with your divisional head and the div. heads battle it out! chain of command (or i like to call it the pecking order!)

but once you do that and your boss comes back and says there is nothing we can do about it - thats pretty much it. all you can do is put a lot of effort into properly documenting and logging the amount of extra work all the stuff is causing your department and submitting it to your boss on a regular basis. as stated earlier, you have to learn to work with and around it - or you look for another job. personally, i don't like to quit. i also look at this as a learning opportunity to learn how to do my job differently.

also need to add. it's not all gloom & doom. there are some bright points. for one, all the divisional heads are very interested in getting their IT staff trained as much as possible in IT stuff, so in any major IT project you have a pool of people you can count on to do the work and functional managers willing to give you their staff's time without much hassle.

[SirDice]

i got one of those. it's doesn't provide 100% coverage.

true. But it beats patching by hand....especially if you need to do it a couple of hundred times

As for the "rogue" users....

We have a policy, if the machine isn't ours and we didn't install it, boot it off the network.
Let's see how far they come if I disable their switchport

Somebody already noted it but try and keep a log of the time you spend cleaning up because of those rogue machines/users. Then convince your boss how much they will save if you don't spend all that time cleaning up. You can tell him/her you can spend that time improving their network. That usually does the trick.

Another option is to let it slide, hope one of your rogue users brings in a virus and let everything fall apart. Then tell your boss "I told you this would happen". If they lose money because the network is down, they'll suddenly start to listen....

[Tedob1]

i agree with sirdice. ive been updating the computers on my network using scripts. but after ten new ms patches coming out this month...ive had enough. i installed sus last week. i would have installed it sooner but it needs a server and gigs of h/d space and i didn't want to add anymore load to the ones we have.

i dont know what kind of network you have...but if your using active directory you can set a group policy to point their computers to the update server and schedual it as you think best. the only cost is the space and resources on a server. if you dont have AD it only takes about 30 secs to configure the client with gpedit.msc. even a login script calling a .reg file could set it up.. after that their computers would download and install the updates you approve without any user intervention

[Und3ertak3r]

My solution.. after getting half the machines running full time on Firefox more to the point NON-IE based Browser.... set up a add filtering Hosts file (this bugger can be too large.. so be careful) ..

only takes a minute to change the file when doing a cleanup.. and I will do this with customers that are regulars (that is they don't listen to advice).. and install FF.. and do a 2 min teach session before sending them out the door.. the return rate is low.. I wnat these guys to come back and order more equipment.. that makes the boss happy.. if they spend their budget on parasites.. they won't be so keen to buy their next batch of workstations..

any changes ..little by little.. and remember why the coffee breaks are only 15mins in many work places.. any longer and the staff will need retraining.. I thought that was a joke.. unfortiunatly it is bloody true..

i hope I made sence.. or it is time for Johnny and Jim to go home..

[secure_lockdown]

Originally posted here by MilitantEidolon
[B]I am have a few opinions on this matter because I dealt with this until the CEO got mad enough to fire me without probable cause.

sorry to hear about your job loss. there are a lot of CEO's on power trips out there!

Another thing! IMO Windows is not a bad OS. Yes, I know there are some security issues but there are ways to prevent those leaks from happening. In this aspect it is purely the admin's fault if Windows is not secured. And, if you are thinking of switching to Linux I would make pretty damn sure that you should be aware of the problems that could come from it. Migration problems/ different extensions/ compatibility issues it just doesn't seem worth it.

in response to this. well here is the thing. i deal with & support some very expensive & fancy business vertical apps. when the vendor dumps a major change your way - no questions asked! everyone has to accept the app changes as a must and everyone learns how to work with those changes.

with regards to linux. i do think if one managed to convince the exec's (which will never happen here! we have a M$ mole in our midst and we get M$ products for dirt cheap!) to switch it will happend. as long as the word comes from up above and not from IT, the users will accept the change and the requirement to adapt.

[secure_lockdown]

Originally posted here by Tedob1
i agree with sirdice. ive been updating the computers on my network using scripts. but after ten new ms patches coming out this month...ive had enough. i installed sus last week. i would have installed it sooner but it needs a server and gigs of h/d space and i didn't want to add anymore load to the ones we have.

i dont know what kind of network you have...but if your using active directory you can set a group policy to point their computers to the update server and schedual it as you think best. the only cost is the space and resources on a server. if you dont have AD it only takes about 30 secs to configure the client with gpedit.msc. even a login script calling a .reg file could set it up.. after that their computers would download and install the updates you approve without any user intervention

no AD yet. but in the works. and when it happens, that is going to be one big a$$ can of worms!

you think the divisional heads didn't send their staff for MCSE training? think again!
you think the divisional heads aren't going to want their own forests? think agian!

if i manage to convince them that forests with 10 user objects is a stupid idea, then the best we can hope for is them fighting for their own domains.

[nihil]

you don't go head to head with these people. you go bring it up with your divisional head and the div. heads battle it out! chain of command (or i like to call it the pecking order!)

That is you main problem, two ignorant (IT wise) egos jockeying for position.............

You need an IT user group, with regular meetings. Let the guys who actually use the systems have their say..............in my experience guys at an operational level will generally listen to you and understand what you are saying, even if they don't agree.

When they go to their Divisional head and put forward an agreed policy/strategy (from your meeting) and your guy has the same opinion.............they will just steal the idea as their own.

Oh man! I have been there so often!

Seriously, I think that if you put it to your boss that there is a gap in communication at the functional/operational layer, he will have some ammunition to look cool with at the next divisional bosses meeting.

That coiuld help you? both personally, and job satisfaction wise?

I am sorry to have to talk "dirty" to you (corporate politics) but this is the kind of thing you sometimes have to deal with.

Please feel free to PM me if you wish to discuss specifics that would only bore the forum.

Cheers

[secure_lockdown]

Originally posted here by nihil
That is you main problem, two ignorant (IT wise) egos jockeying for position.............

i don't think you have a clue under which "umbrella" my IT area (and InfoSec!!) fall under.

we fall under the same organizationla umbrella as the coffer machine maintenence staff, janitorial staff, and guy that cleans the dumpsters. now close your eyes and picture my "divisional head"!

a healthy sense of humor is a must in life

:-)

[silent-mage]

a suggestion from me is that there is a program out there called Deep Freeze. This is a program that once you have "frozen" the computer the way you want it, when the computer restarts then everything that has been added or changed it will be deleted and your computer will be the same when you froze it. Read more about Deep Freeze here.

http://www.faronics.com/ - Product Website