Cooperative Communication
Alexander Muse , August 28, 2007
In business there are various forms of communication. Most of us took one or two communication classes in college, but they rarely covered electronic communication in a business setting (prior to 2001). I figured a quick run down might help everyone at Architel communicate better.
Passive Communication Examples:
Passive communication is communication that doesn’t require the recipient to respond, it is almost always a bad idea when delivered via email. Have you ever sent out a mass email (i.e. to a distribution list) asking for assistance or information? For example,
From: Someone
To: Everyone
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 11:01:18 AM GMT-0600 US/Central
Subject: Help!Can someone call Joe at XYZ to make sure it is okay to reboot the server at 5PM? Let me know if there is a problem.
Regards,
Someone
Of course, everyone reading this email would assume that someone else (likely lots of people) must have called Joe by now and assume that the issue has been dealt with. But in reality it is just as likely no one has responded. The sender of this message has either wasted lots of people’s time or potentially put Joe’s server at risk of meltdown.
Passive communication doesn’t have to be one-to-many, it can be one-to-one as seen in this example:
From: Someone
To: Someone Else
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 11:01:18 AM GMT-0600 US/Central
Subject: Help!I need you to help Ginger with her mouse, let me know if you aren’t going to be able to get to it before the end of the day. FYI - she is really freaking out.
Regards,
Someone
This is a very common email type. You have at the very least assigned the task to someone, but you have requested they respond ONLY if they can’t help. What if they don’t get the email until tomorrow? I guess Ginger will be freaking out even more.
Cooperative Communication Strategy:
In the cooperative communication strategy we are all working toward the same goal. Information distributed to the group is active. For example:
From: Someone
To: Everyone
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 11:01:18 AM GMT-0600 US/Central
Subject: Help!Guys, there is a new virus and I would like each of you to check out the details in the wiki before the end of the day, click to review.
Regards,
Someone
Provide the information and suggest an action. Assistance requested must require immediate action. For example:
From: Someone
To: Someone Else
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2007 11:01:18 AM GMT-0600 US/Central
Subject: Help!I need you to help Ginger with her mouse, if you can help her with the issue before the end of the day please give me a ring or respond to this email in the next ten minutes or so. Otherwise I will try to get someone else on top of it.
Regards,
Someone
If you need help and are looking for availability (i.e. you don’t have a clue who to specifically request), use another medium of communication. If you are in the same room as the group simply raise your voice and ask for help. If you are in a chat, IRC, IM or Twitter session ask the group for help. Don’t send an email blast. Why not? Either you receive multiple personal responses that no one else can see (i.e. wasting everyone’s time) or you are all using ‘reply to all’ and filling up everyone’s email box.
Stop using passive communication and start using cooperative communication. Deal?
Architel Fav, Fireside Pies, to Open New Location
Alexander Muse , August 27, 2007
The new location is even closer to the office (Inwood and Lovers). Nancy Nichols of D Magazine (Architel client) has the scoop in a post titled, “Fireside Pies to Open Another Lcation.” The post:
The Pied Piper of Henderson, Tristan Simon, has taken over the Urban Bistro space near Inwood and Lovers and plans to have a Fireside Pies opened by mid October. All together now, “Thanks Tristan!”
Hopefully we don’t gain any more weight as a result…
Outsourcing the management of IT
Alexander Muse , August 25, 2007
There are two types of IT outsourcing in the small and medium business space:
The first type is outsourced talent. This is the most common type, where by someone who works for the small or medium size business calls a third-party to fix various issues with the company’s computers, servers and/or network. This internal resource is often an office manager, COO or controller. Users within the company contact this internal resource when they need support and the internal resource must decide when or if to call the third-party. Most companies struggle with this model as their internal resource often lacks the technical skills to adequately manage technical resources.
The second type is outsource IT management. This is a newer model, often combined with flat-fee pricing models, where by a third-party company implements systems to allow them to interact directly with the network and the users. The IT communication and decision making is no longer handled internally, instead users are responsible for working with the third-party to report their issues. For most business owners the second type of outsourcing is preferable.
Outsourced IT management is not without its downsides. For instance, it is not uncommon for users to ‘blame’ technology. Instead of working to resolve their IT issues so that they can meet their business related deadlines they give up and only after they have missed their business objectives do they complain within their own management structure. Business owners who allow users to operate outside of the outsourced IT management model will eventually be forced to replace their provider. The next time moving back to standard outsourced talent or trying again with another outsourced IT management provider.
Windows Genuine Advantage Servers Down!
Alexander Muse , August 25, 2007
If you are trying to install Windows XP or Vista you won’t be able to validate your install until Tuesday so says Microsoft:
We contacted our sources at Microsoft, who told us off the record that the company is aware of a major WGA server outage affecting users across the globe. The Windows Genuine Advantage support forum has exploded with complaints, as a result, and Phil Liu, WGA Project Manager, says that he won’t sleep until the problem is fixed. Windows Vista and XP are affected, 32- and 64-bit versions.
Via ars technica
Zimbra and Shared Mail Folders
Alexander Muse , August 23, 2007
If you were reading the Zimbra blog (it is in the Architel OPML if you were wondering) you would have heard that Zimbra 5.0 now supports Shared Folders. OMG! More than 116 users voted for the enhancement (no. 9396). Turns out it was hard:
Shared folders was a difficult one for us. There were a lot of server-side things that had to change. For example, this one feature depended on bugs 6082, 7527, 13101, 15634, 15637, 15773, and 7083. This means we had to resolve all of those issues/features before we could roll out Shared Folders.
Here’s how it works:
It all starts with this. A folder that I need to share with someone. In the folder, I have an RSS Feed.
A right click on the folder brings up a contextual menu. We click “Share Folder”.
Once we choose “Share Folder”, we are presented with the Share folder dialog. We can then use our autocomplete to share it with someone else. In this case, I’m sharing to Kevin Henrikson.
The user receives a notification that the Folder has been shared, and once accepted, it appears in the list of folders.
Wiki as alternative to document management and email
Alexander Muse , August 21, 2007
Documentation is key in the IT support game. We struggle with it all of the time here at Architel. Most small businesses have very little documentation related to their IT infrastructure and what little they do have is always out-of-date. In the past we attempted to build binder for each client. We would fill out lots of information in Word documents, print them and put them in three ring binders (we still have evidence of these binders on shelves in our NOC). This was great as long as the information you needed was historical. Reading one of our client binders was like reading a six month old newspaper ~ pretty worthless. That all changed in 2005 when we started using the Wiki as a tool for collaborative documentation.
The first step was easy: Client Wikis ~ We created a standard template for each new client (essentially a standalone wiki for each client). We then populate that template as much as we could. The second step was harder. Whenever data about the environment changed we had to get our engineers to update the wiki.
The second step was harder, but even more important: Operations Wiki ~ We began documenting how we ran the business (i.e. the Architel business). In the past our corporate policies were somewhat documented in a book we copied from a PEO, but in general we used email to update everyone on how things should be done. With the Wiki we had a place to create policy and allow that policy to change through the course of time.
The third step hasn’t taken place yet: Email via Wiki ~ Today we still email important business details. So much information is lost to email and it is a shame. Email certainly has its place. One-on-one communication is best conducted in the privacy of your inbox, but one-to-many communication is best conducted in a wiki. For example, if you need to send a message to the entire team explaining a process or a new piece of information you should consider writing the message in the wiki and emailing a link to everyone concerned. In this way each person can augment or change the supplied information, new employees (i.e. ones who weren’t hired before you sent out the mass-email) will be able to access the information if they need it. Of course there is information you shouldn’t document in the wiki, i.e. ‘everyone, there is cake in the breakroom.’ Here at Architel we are working to stop using our inbox as our corporate policy documentation system.
Is your data someone else’s Intellectual Property?
Alexander Muse , August 20, 2007
According to one Dallas based IT support company (name withheld for time being) when your data resides on their servers it is their ‘intellectual property.’ Confused? We were too. The company provides hosted servers for their customer’s use. One customer in particular is attempting to migrate to a new provider (i.e. us), but the hosting company is claiming they cannot have “their” data until they purchase it from the hosting company. They are in the process of having their lawyers draft an intellectual property license. They also have supplied their customer with a $30K+ bill for the license. Still confused? We are too.
Moral of the story? Always keep a back-up of your data. In the event your current hosting provider has a fire, loses it, deletes it or (as in the case) loses their mind ~ your business won’t be at risk.
INFOMART ~ getting kind of crowded!
Alexander Muse , August 6, 2007
When we moved into the INFOMART in 2003 there were tumble weeds rolling down the halls. The building has around 1.3 million square feet with almost 400,000 square feet empty. Well that is about to change with the buildings most recent addition: Bank of America. The bank is moving its check processing and imaging operations to the building, taking over 360,000 square feet. Better hurry if you need more space, it’s almost gone!
IT Jobs in Dallas are Endangered!
Alexander Muse , August 4, 2007
According the Dallas Federal Reserve, IT jobs losses are growing in Dallas as high-tech service firms continue to restructure. Check out the full report here. The folks at D picked up on it to in a shorter article here. In general job growth in Dallas grew by around 2.4%, but the outlook for network engineers is not positive as most of the large employers are shifting IT jobs elsewhere. This leaves ten thousands of highly skilled computer and network technicians looking for work.
We have felt the impact of this trend as the volume and quality of resumes from job seekers has improved. Most IT job seekers have a college degree and 5+ years of experience working for companies such as Perot, EDS or ACS. Looking for work? Send your resume to careers@architel.com.
