RE: Outsourcing system administration: how to deal with us
An interesting and instructive story we all read in the topic of anger . First of all, I would like to wish the author to listen to the comments and his heart - how can the nerve cells be protected.
I want to slightly dispel some of the myths about sysadmin outsourcing, if you let me call him that. I myself am an employee of the same company for 3 years with a tail of years. The only reservation is that we are not in the Capital of the Russian Federation, but in the large N city, which is the capital of the region by local standards. The competition here is not so strong, but the responsibility, paradoxically, is higher. Well, and a little more about the company - sysadmin outsourcing (hereinafter - sys. Outsourcing, with the permission of the reader), this is not the main profile of the company. The company is fighting on several fronts, quite successfully it should be noted. And outsourcing has grown as a side service supporting one of the main activities.
So. This post is good, I am writing in order to improve people's understanding of the system. outsourcing, incl. and thoughts topikstarter initial post.
There are enough revelations, but in most cases quite banal things are described about the organization of work and about clients, loved and unique. I will try to shed light on the work of outsourcers and characterize the author of the target article as a client.
')
A warning. This text is good for, not holivar for
In the first post, everything was correctly written. Sis. Outsourcing is a fairly flexible system to maintain the health of the infrastructure. Everyone knows about all the obvious and hidden advantages, there is nothing to add. However, there are lots of reservations. Some of them can be seen immediately - “attached sysdamin”, some is detected later - a lack of hands, for example.
All this is specific to the system. outsourcing and you need to put up with it. Cons, too short. We will talk about them.
There are no ideals; you can strive for them, but you will never be able to achieve it. Having in the state of any sysadmin he, sooner or later, will acquire some ambitions. They will be associated either with the tasks performed, or with the level of payment. And can be simultaneous. It does not make sense to keep such people - nobody will work well. Search for a new sensible person is problematic. Described especially for small firms. Know floated.
Freelance requires high responsibility and decent knowledge from the artist. Finding such a person is difficult, but possible. Unfortunately, I was not in the shoes of a freelancer, so I refrain from commenting.
And, of course, sis. outsourcing. The biggest problem that emerges as a plus is the attached sysadmin. You can draw an analogy with the doctor, they say, he knows all the sores and hazards. In fact, this is the case with one big reservation - it is not always there. Hospital, holidays, trawls. All this interferes with the normal operation of one engineer with the Client. And then others are more helpful - more experienced or less experienced (as lucky), but those and others will not immediately understand the whole essence of the infrastructure without encountering it before and, as a result, will not be able to quickly solve the problem.
These are all obvious disadvantages. You can put the mark KO, but I had to pay attention to them before approaching the essence of the situation.
The situations described in the original topic were the last time we ever had . The following factors contribute to this:
Work that will take a long time (for example, deploying AD in a working network of 70+ PCs) is considered by agreement.
We do not divide Clients into important and non-important. And not even because they are all about the same. There are big, there are small. And for those and for others you need to hold on.
However, the division of Clients into "good" and "not very" exists. Will explain.
The very first impression of the client is usually the brightest. How it communicates, what tasks it sets, how it assesses its current state, how it approaches a financial issue. Further, after a couple of months or 5-10 visits, the overall picture is being drawn. It becomes quite clear when something falls off at the Client.
In general, equating the Client to “good” and “not very” comes down to how adequate he is.
By the well-known law, the Client cannot be countered, he is always right. But you cannot build good relations with this, for fulfilling all the whims you can do great harm to him (by spoiling the process) and to yourself (staining your reputation). Example - if you need a file server, then buy a piece of iron for 100 tr. somehow stupid. But the security guard's nephew said to the Client’s representative that servers are only such and they are cheaper - all this sucks. Of course, we can deploy Windows Search Server on it and make versioning of documents, but for an office of 20 people this is unnecessary. It is better to put a SAN or NAS and enjoy life, sometimes re-reading the logs.
This I mean, you need to direct the client’s thoughts in the right direction. "Branded DropBox"? Is it justified? ActiveDirectory? The right thing, set! Buying an additional server? Let's try to optimize the performance available!
By showing the difference in time costs and, most importantly, money, one can strengthen credibility in the eyes of the Client.
There is another unwritten rule that is accepted to follow in outsourcing firms - you need to try to unify and standardize as much as possible. If udalenka, then all through VPN (if possible). If the mail server - it is preferably the same for all. And so on. Then it is much easier for other engineers to sort out an unfamiliar Client.
Here one more small nuance emerges, the deeper the engineers of the outsourcing company get into the Client's infrastructure, the more difficult it will be for the Client to refuse their services. This is a little trick. After analyzing the proposals for the market of outsourcing firms in our city N, we focused on products Mi ***** ft. Since they are well integrated with each other, they are quite comfortable and, quite recently, quite stable. Well, other outsourcers have little experience with the products of the famous software giant.
I am more satisfied with my work. She is my first constant. A year later, I fully understood the process of the company, after two years I fully understood how to perform all the tasks. By the end of the third year, I myself began to invent tasks. Something accepted, something not. In general, such work develops communication skills and stress resistance.
A little bit about pay - like many other companies have a salary + percentage. So work, in the truest sense of the word, is beneficial)
Often, for different jobs, you have to stay in the office or at the client. In this case, you can either appear a little later the next day, or leave the recycled clock to be credited for the next time off or to increase the salary. Conveniently enough.
Different trawls happen - it happens, we work on weekends and holidays. This requires specific work
Dear atman !
Unfortunately, in this situation you have no other choice but to change the outsourcers, no. Whatever the payment, as correctly noted in the comments, the attitude of the performers will not change. There are no irreplaceable people, you just need to search.
I hope your attitude to the system. outsourcing that firm is not much spoiled. I am sure that there are more responsible firms in Moscow.
I wish to quickly get rid of the difficulties in my IT company and find peace on this front.
The client from the target topic is very interesting from the point of view of the company. It is adequate, IT-aware and can pay. Engineers especially appreciated the first. And about the main thing:
I hope that I somehow clarified the picture of sysadmin outsourcing. Of course, from the topic of anger, I explained little, but a little told how we are trying to strive for the ideal.
Notes on spelling ask in drugs.
UPD1
Added "RE:" in the header. Thank you goblinoid
I want to slightly dispel some of the myths about sysadmin outsourcing, if you let me call him that. I myself am an employee of the same company for 3 years with a tail of years. The only reservation is that we are not in the Capital of the Russian Federation, but in the large N city, which is the capital of the region by local standards. The competition here is not so strong, but the responsibility, paradoxically, is higher. Well, and a little more about the company - sysadmin outsourcing (hereinafter - sys. Outsourcing, with the permission of the reader), this is not the main profile of the company. The company is fighting on several fronts, quite successfully it should be noted. And outsourcing has grown as a side service supporting one of the main activities.
So. This post is good, I am writing in order to improve people's understanding of the system. outsourcing, incl. and thoughts topikstarter initial post.
There are enough revelations, but in most cases quite banal things are described about the organization of work and about clients, loved and unique. I will try to shed light on the work of outsourcers and characterize the author of the target article as a client.
')
A warning. This text is good for, not holivar for
Pros and ...
In the first post, everything was correctly written. Sis. Outsourcing is a fairly flexible system to maintain the health of the infrastructure. Everyone knows about all the obvious and hidden advantages, there is nothing to add. However, there are lots of reservations. Some of them can be seen immediately - “attached sysdamin”, some is detected later - a lack of hands, for example.
All this is specific to the system. outsourcing and you need to put up with it. Cons, too short. We will talk about them.
IRL
There are no ideals; you can strive for them, but you will never be able to achieve it. Having in the state of any sysadmin he, sooner or later, will acquire some ambitions. They will be associated either with the tasks performed, or with the level of payment. And can be simultaneous. It does not make sense to keep such people - nobody will work well. Search for a new sensible person is problematic. Described especially for small firms. Know floated.
Freelance requires high responsibility and decent knowledge from the artist. Finding such a person is difficult, but possible. Unfortunately, I was not in the shoes of a freelancer, so I refrain from commenting.
And, of course, sis. outsourcing. The biggest problem that emerges as a plus is the attached sysadmin. You can draw an analogy with the doctor, they say, he knows all the sores and hazards. In fact, this is the case with one big reservation - it is not always there. Hospital, holidays, trawls. All this interferes with the normal operation of one engineer with the Client. And then others are more helpful - more experienced or less experienced (as lucky), but those and others will not immediately understand the whole essence of the infrastructure without encountering it before and, as a result, will not be able to quickly solve the problem.
These are all obvious disadvantages. You can put the mark KO, but I had to pay attention to them before approaching the essence of the situation.
How to be
The situations described in the original topic were the last time we ever had . The following factors contribute to this:
- lack of manager. Yes, we do not have a manager attached to clients. With our volumes, this is probably normal. The manager is an attached engineer.
- lack of clear attachment. Yes, we have a conditionally responsible engineer for the Client, but there is no clear linkage. We distribute the work so that each of our department (5 people + boss) has an idea of ​​the Client. With the increase in the number of clients (exceeded 20), we are still beginning to divide between the two groups. But the exchange of information is not interrupted.
- the manager is the engineer himself, so there is no gap in IT knowledge. Plus there is a direct acquaintance and communication with the Client, which also increases understanding.
- works requiring immediate response receive a “one mile” priority. No more, no less.
- honest execution of the so-called planned work. No matter how useless they may seem, they are needed. Of course, the list of works must be regulated with the Client. And, of course, this list should be meaningful. Option - go to see whether the LEDs blink on the servers is not suitable, in addition to this list can reach 40-50 points.
- self-organization. It all depends on the level of responsibility of the engineer
Separate item - payment
It is only hourly. In general, most of our clients are sitting on the subscriber station. It reduces the cost of an hour of work in proportion to the number of hours per subs. package. A big plus is that the response in this case is quick - as a contract is drawn up, where everything is spelled out, plus there is no need to coordinate the applications. Exhaustion of a package of hours does not mean that we will leave the Client, just the rate per hour will increase slightly. Customers working on one-off requests for some time get some indulgence. Such and only such a system seems to us the most optimal.Work that will take a long time (for example, deploying AD in a working network of 70+ PCs) is considered by agreement.
The customer is always right! Well, almost always
We do not divide Clients into important and non-important. And not even because they are all about the same. There are big, there are small. And for those and for others you need to hold on.
However, the division of Clients into "good" and "not very" exists. Will explain.
The very first impression of the client is usually the brightest. How it communicates, what tasks it sets, how it assesses its current state, how it approaches a financial issue. Further, after a couple of months or 5-10 visits, the overall picture is being drawn. It becomes quite clear when something falls off at the Client.
In general, equating the Client to “good” and “not very” comes down to how adequate he is.
By the well-known law, the Client cannot be countered, he is always right. But you cannot build good relations with this, for fulfilling all the whims you can do great harm to him (by spoiling the process) and to yourself (staining your reputation). Example - if you need a file server, then buy a piece of iron for 100 tr. somehow stupid. But the security guard's nephew said to the Client’s representative that servers are only such and they are cheaper - all this sucks. Of course, we can deploy Windows Search Server on it and make versioning of documents, but for an office of 20 people this is unnecessary. It is better to put a SAN or NAS and enjoy life, sometimes re-reading the logs.
This I mean, you need to direct the client’s thoughts in the right direction. "Branded DropBox"? Is it justified? ActiveDirectory? The right thing, set! Buying an additional server? Let's try to optimize the performance available!
By showing the difference in time costs and, most importantly, money, one can strengthen credibility in the eyes of the Client.
There is another unwritten rule that is accepted to follow in outsourcing firms - you need to try to unify and standardize as much as possible. If udalenka, then all through VPN (if possible). If the mail server - it is preferably the same for all. And so on. Then it is much easier for other engineers to sort out an unfamiliar Client.
A little more about Clients
Here one more small nuance emerges, the deeper the engineers of the outsourcing company get into the Client's infrastructure, the more difficult it will be for the Client to refuse their services. This is a little trick. After analyzing the proposals for the market of outsourcing firms in our city N, we focused on products Mi ***** ft. Since they are well integrated with each other, they are quite comfortable and, quite recently, quite stable. Well, other outsourcers have little experience with the products of the famous software giant.
About us, outsourcing fighters
I am more satisfied with my work. She is my first constant. A year later, I fully understood the process of the company, after two years I fully understood how to perform all the tasks. By the end of the third year, I myself began to invent tasks. Something accepted, something not. In general, such work develops communication skills and stress resistance.
A little bit about pay - like many other companies have a salary + percentage. So work, in the truest sense of the word, is beneficial)
Often, for different jobs, you have to stay in the office or at the client. In this case, you can either appear a little later the next day, or leave the recycled clock to be credited for the next time off or to increase the salary. Conveniently enough.
Different trawls happen - it happens, we work on weekends and holidays. This requires specific work
Dear atman !
Unfortunately, in this situation you have no other choice but to change the outsourcers, no. Whatever the payment, as correctly noted in the comments, the attitude of the performers will not change. There are no irreplaceable people, you just need to search.
I hope your attitude to the system. outsourcing that firm is not much spoiled. I am sure that there are more responsible firms in Moscow.
I wish to quickly get rid of the difficulties in my IT company and find peace on this front.
Conclusion
The client from the target topic is very interesting from the point of view of the company. It is adequate, IT-aware and can pay. Engineers especially appreciated the first. And about the main thing:
- Money engineers do not lure, even if the "cut cabbage" right into their pocket
- It is advisable to be friendly with the engineer, because in this case, the tension decreases and both work comfortably.
- Require immediate response in emergency situations from the management of an outsourcing company. This is an org. moment and the engineer has little to affect
- Asking questions is helpful, and it is helpful to demand answers to them. Keep the performers in good shape
- Everyone loves cookies and tea. During such gatherings you can very well make friends with the engineer
Together with the conclusion
As you, dear readers, probably managed to notice, the word Client I write with a capital letter. This is not casual, because self-respect Clients value most. And I personally try to follow it.I hope that I somehow clarified the picture of sysadmin outsourcing. Of course, from the topic of anger, I explained little, but a little told how we are trying to strive for the ideal.
Notes on spelling ask in drugs.
UPD1
Added "RE:" in the header. Thank you goblinoid
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/174685/
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