Neit2009+Open+Space+4+D

Open Space4 - D Rock Room

Zev Markenson - The Churchill School and Center Derek Smith - Riverdale Country School

We all have too much work. We are always going to have too much work. So how do we deal with all of it?
 * __ How to manage the chaos __**


 * Staffing – It is never easy to increase support staff so we need to justify how we spend our time. Help Desk and Project Management software are good ways to track tasks/projects and how much time you spend working on them. The reports from these systems will be great tools to use when working with the administration to budget for increased staffing, increased training budgets, and to help them understand what we do.


 * Standards – how many things do you actually support?
 * Operating systems - limit the amount by limiting the computer models you support
 * Windows XP, Windows Vista, Linux, OSX Tiger, OSX Leopard
 * Computer models
 * Limit the amount you support by bulk purchasing once a year
 * Get on a 4 year replacement cycle with warranties so you are only replacing 25% of your inventory every year
 * Your summer replacement work will be the same every year
 * It is easier to budget/forecast (CFOs do not like surprise large capital purchases)
 * Who purchases everything?
 * Make sure all tech purchasing is through the tech department. Faculty should not be purchasing anything with classroom budgets.
 * Test it before you purchase anything for a roll out
 * Asset inventory
 * Complete a full inventory of everything you have ($100 cutoff)
 * You need to know what you have if you are going to support it
 * Training
 * Identify training needs - is this a helpdesk call you see all the time which is actually just a need for more training?
 * Use outside trainers - they are perceived as experts by your users so your users will be more willing to show up and learn
 * Projects - anything you do that is not a Help Desk ticket
 * Have you completed a full project review?
 * Create a master document that includes all projects
 * Tech Staff and Integrators need to get everything out of their email, paper notes, and brains and put together in the same place
 * set a deadline for gathering all of the information
 * meet as a group to consolidate overlapping issues
 * Ask the question “Why are we doing this project?”
 * Set suggested priorities
 * Have the final document approved/reviewed by administration
 * Enter current year approved projects into a project management system
 * All new projects must get reviewed against current year approved list
 * Is this new project more important than the approved ones?
 * Does it get put on the list for next year?
 * Should we really be doing this now or in the future?

Help Desk Software
 * Web Help Desk (free 5 user version - must be kept on in-house server)
 * School Dude (online service - monthly fee)
 * Request Tracker (aka RT - open source - must be kept on in-house server)

Project Management Software
 * Basecamp (online service - 30 day free trial)
 * Zoho (1 project free trial - integrates with Google Apps for your domain)
 * Microsoft Project (too much for small groups)
 * Bugzilla (open source)

Books
 * Absolute Beginner's Guide to Project Management
 * The Art of Project Management
 * Time Management for System Administrators
 * Practice of System and Network Administration
 * RT Essentials