How Do You Ask a Senior Admin to Explain Manual Processes?
Junior admin rant incoming. My senior is clearly experienced and has seen far more environments than I have, but he often uses very old-school methods without explaining the…
IT operations
How can we safely review and replace Network Solutions services?
I'm an executive assistant, not an IT administrator, and I'm trying to help my boss understand several recurring charges from Network Solutions, ranging from about $10 to $40…
Who Typically Owns Access to Corporate Applications?
In an interview for a new graduate DevOps role, I was asked: "Who typically owns access to corporate applications: IAM engineers, IT staff, application administrators, or Platform/DevOps engineers?"…
Who Typically Owns Access to Corporate Applications?
I was asked this during an interview for a new graduate DevOps role: "Who typically owns access to corporate applications—IAM engineers, IT staff, application administrators, or Platform/DevOps engineers?"…
How do you inventory and control years of accumulated PowerShell automation?
In a Windows-heavy environment, how do you keep track of PowerShell automation after it has accumulated for several years? I'm less interested in writing new scripts and more…
How can an L1 technician safely take on a systems administration project?
I've been a Level 1 help desk technician at a corporate company for a little over three years, and I'm trying to move toward systems administration. Our new…
How Should I Handle a Senior Coworker Who Keeps Leaving Operational Work Open?
I'm a systems administrator at a medium-sized organization, working alongside a senior sysadmin. I'm currently tied up with a major project, so I asked him to handle several…
How Can We Safely Take Over a Large Azure Environment From Our MSP?
Our company is preparing to take complete administration of a large Azure environment away from our managed service provider. It includes hundreds of virtual machines, Entra ID user…
How Can We Safely Take Over a Complex Azure Environment With Limited Experience?
Our company is planning to take complete administration of its Azure environment away from our managed service provider. The setup includes hundreds of virtual machines, Entra ID user…
How detailed should a technical SOP or runbook be?
My boss rejected an SOP I wrote because it wasn't detailed enough. I documented the action as: check the log for entries containing "Out of memory." He wants…
Is blocking remote vendor support for production systems overly cautious?
My company uses a proprietary all-in-one appliance from a third-party vendor in our data center. Under normal conditions, it is reachable only from designated production terminals. We do…
Is strict onsite-only vendor support justified for a production environment?
My company runs a third-party, all-in-one appliance in our data center. Under normal conditions, it is accessed only through designated production terminals. When employees are away from the…
Is My Boss Being Too Risk-Averse About Automation?
I work for a very small managed IT services company with only four employees. My boss has extensive experience in internal IT and consulting, but he is extremely…
What are the biggest challenges of supporting IT infrastructure at remote sites?
How do companies handle IT infrastructure located in factories, branch offices, retail shops, and other sites far from the main data center? I'm interested in the practical problems…
What are the biggest challenges of managing IT infrastructure at remote sites?
How do companies manage IT equipment installed at factories, branch offices, retail stores, and other locations far from the primary data center? I'm interested in the practical problems…
Is My Boss Too Risk-Averse About Automation?
I work at a very small managed services provider with only four employees. My boss has extensive experience in internal IT and consulting, but he is extremely cautious…
How Often Should Systems Be Updated and Patched?
I was asked during an interview how often I update or patch systems. I answered that it depends on what is being updated and that I patch things…
Should an employee’s old email address be kept after a name change?
At my company, when someone changes their name, we update their login and email address but keep the previous address as an alias for only 30 days. After…
How do you standardize and run IT operations automation across a Microsoft 365 environment?
I'm trying to standardize and automate more of our IT operations. We're a roughly 15-person IT team using Microsoft Entra ID, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Teams, and on-premises…
How Should a Small IT Team Standardize and Run M365 Automation?
I'm taking responsibility for standardizing and automating operational processes at work. Our environment is heavily based on Microsoft 365, including Entra ID, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Teams,…