TenBrink Tech Technology | Life

Resume for Review

So, today I find myself looking for a job. No, it wasn't because of my previous post on the blog, or something I said (heh, you wish!).

At any rate, if you are, or know of someone who can use a kick-butt, top of the line, great Windows Server guy, I'm your guy. I am all over the Windows Server System, with 10+ years in Exchange Server/Messaging. Active Directory? SMS? System Center/MOM? SQL? VB.NET? Desktop and Server applications? Virtualization? Need someone who can be a technology, team, and project leader? Someone who cares about company success?

Yep, got all that and a bag o' chips.

If you would like a look at the resume and an extensive list of characters, er, references...drop me an email. The address is dillon@tenbrink.us and we'll talk soon -- maybe I can be your next Windows team lead.

Infrastructure Agility & Supporting the Business

I was over reading James' blog this morning, and his notes about Microsoft's Infrastructure Optimization assessments hit home dramatically.

This is something that I've been pounding into our group's heads for years, without making much in headway. There are a few sure things in IT:

• It's not about what tools your are using, it is how you are using them. Am I using the right tool for the job?
• There are no "IT Projects", only business initiatives that IT is there to support.
• IT needs to have the ability and agility to react to changing business priorities at any time and shape.

Unfortunately, all too often people look at IT as a black box, not knowing how to best fit it into their organization. We're left off as a support group, but perhaps in many cases less-engaged in the business then even traditional support roles such as HR or finance. IT breeds this within as well, with our manic ideas about how to get tasks done, our many times overreaching authority over the applications and services, and our religious wars over technology and architecture decisions.

IT needs the ability to be brought into the business and vision discussions and then strive with every ability to help the business achieve the overall goals - regardless of the technology actually implemented.

To fill in my assessment of where my group is today with our infrastructure, I'll take James' quick quiz. You should do this yourself as well and share the results with your peers. The formal assessment is available here. Start the conversation about how you can better meet the needs of your business and engage them.

(the more answers to the left, the more dynamic your environment is = good)

There is some great technology out from Microsoft (yea, here's the plug) that can do things to help the business, and I bet most of management doesn't even know outside of IT. They won't know unless you start the conversation of "how can we better help the company succeed".

Webcasts of Note

Some interesting webcasts in the Exchange arena in May to place on your calendar.

• Microsoft Office System Webcast: Top 10 Tips for Managing E-Mail in Outlook 2007 (Level 100)
  Thursday, May 03, 2007 - 9:00 AM - 10:00 AM Pacific Time
  Andy Reed, Senior Training Specialist, Microsoft Corporation
  http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032334647&Culture=en-US
• TechNet Webcast: Exchange Server Database Troubleshooting and Recovery with the Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant 1.1 (Level 300)
  Wednesday, May 02, 2007 - 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Pacific Time
  Weiguo Zhang, Senior Software Development Engineer, Microsoft Corporation
  http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032337231&Culture=en-US
• TechNet Webcast: Exchange Server Performance Troubleshooting Using the Exchange Troubleshooting Assistant 1.1 (Level 300)
  Monday, May 07, 2007 - 1:00 PM - 2:30 PM Pacific Time
  Nicole Allen, Senior Software Development Engineer, Microsoft Corporation
  http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032337234&Culture=en-US
• TechNet Webcast: How Microsoft IT Deploys Exchange Server 2007 Unified Messaging (Level 300)
  Tuesday, May 08, 2007 - 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific Time
  David Wilson, Microsoft IT Service Manager, Microsoft Corporation
  http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032337405&Culture=en-US
• TechNet Webcast: How Microsoft IT Deploys Exchange Server 2007 Edge Transport (Level 300)
  Tuesday, May 22, 2007 - 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM Pacific Time
  Andy Ryan, Senior Program Manager, Microsoft Corporation
  http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032337412&Culture=en-US

Everyone’s an expert (on lawnmowers)

I have four neighbors in my cul-de-sac. The last two weekends they have watched me, in vain, attempt to start my lawnmower after the long rainy off-season here in Portland. Two weekends I have failed to get that blade trimming death machine to work.

Of course, ask any of the men, and they'll all render their opinion on why (including me).

So if your mower won't start, head to the Internet. I found this great link which gives some concise and effective troubleshooting instructions for just about everything that could go wrong.

All your problems solved, I hope. As for my mower, I'm going to give it a try this weekend with the new found knowledge.

Cool uses for MOSS 2007

Found this ultra cool blurb in the news reader this afternoon. The latest edition of SharePoint is amazing both out of the box and as a development platform.

How we did it: Mission critical HawaiianAir.com website powered by MOSS 2007

About a year ago, when Hawaiian Airlines planned to redesign the look and feel of their website, http://www.HawaiianAir.com, they wanted a solution that would improve the authoring and management of the website’s content. After an evaluation, they decided to take advantage of MOSS 2007’s Web Content Management (WCM) features even though the product was still in beta. So, they joined the MOSS 2007 Technology Adoption Program (TAP) and engaged Microsoft Consulting Services (MCS) to implement the new website.

Source: How we did it: Mission critical HawaiianAir.com website powered by MOSS 2007