Hello from down in the trenches.

22. May 2008 by admin.

I’m just sitting here… in a sort of creative daze, staring  at a blank sheet of virtual paper and wondering just what would interest another Network Administrator or maybe more importantly, another person who needs to learn about network administration.

Hi… My name is Tom. I am a certified Network Administrator… first Novell, then Microsoft… maybe Linux someday. I own and operate a Delaware computer support company based in Newark, Delaware, USA.

I always wanted my own business, but with no safety net to protect my family should I fail, I could never work up the nerve to strike out on my own   Well, that all changed one day when my employer decided he didn’t need me any longer.

I had taken a job with a small but ambitious home remodeling company. They had asked me to come on-board and leave my previous employer where I had worked for six years as a field engineer. I accepted since I was never really happy at my old job… my immediate supervisor was…less than an honest person… and the owner was…much less than pleasant…and I had to drive my own vehicle into the ground at 23 measly cents a mile.

When I started this new job, they had 7 workstations, an outdated NT4.0 server, a 10 Mb hub, and email was coming in through dial up from AOL.

As I said, however, they were ambitious. The company size increased quickly until there just wasn’t anywhere to put another person.  Now at 40 workstations and with a new Windows 2000 Small Business Server they were keeping the pipe full on their T1 line.

They eventually made the wise decision that they couldn’t spread out or build up any further, so they moved on… to a huge office/warehouse building a few miles away.

Eighteen months later, now at 70 workstations, a 2003 Small Business Server, a separate accounting server, and a 10 seat call center, they decided things were so calm and stable that they no longer needed a full-time administrator.

In truth, I had been splitting my time between network administration and cost accounting… no one else felt confident to create the long formulas we needed to prepare the necessary reports from Excel, so that job fell to me. The fact that they were too cheap to buy Crystal Reports may have also been a factor.

Anyway, I came in early, stayed late, and didn’t complain. I see now that I probably didn’t use the best personal judgmentby doing so.

As often happens to others, right before Christmas they dropped the bomb on me that they were letting me go… or rather the task fell to the company controller, with whom I had a good relationship.  I think it was the hardest thing she had ever done and I must say, I was never so shocked in my life.

I knew I had been doing a good job.. a great job in fact, and that was probably the beginning of my down-fall.  If you keep things running really smoothly you aren’t always as visible as you need to be.  Hind-sight being 20-20, I probably should have introduced an occasional controlled emergency.  ( Current admins… take note)

Even more strange… I was told (at the exit interview) there was absolutely no problem with the quality or quantity of my work. In fact, they were extremely happy with my performance and, if I wanted, they would hire me as an independent  contractor to continue servicing their account.

I had no job… No immediate prospects… Bills due… Insurance due…a slew of credit cards and  a family to feed… so I decided then and there… why Not !?  Most new businesses don’t have the luxury of starting out with a built-in major client, and let me tell you, being between a rock and a hard place isn’t a very pleasant place to be.

So, I threw together a fee schedule, applied for a business license, and my company, Admin Associates was born. Why the dumb name ? That’s for another day.

Good Luck and Good Networking.

From way down in the trenches, I’m Tom

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