Source
r/sysadmin•
dVnt

In Need of /r/sysadmin Reality Check.

It's me again, bitching and moaning...

OK, about three years ago I was working as the first tier support for my organization. I had to manually collect the inventory of all devices in my buildings. I got it done, PITA of course, but no big deal.

Fast forward three years. I was promoted to the tier 2 position, but essentially demoted back to tier 1 after a reorganization and the writing of job titles. All the original data that I painstakingly collected was orphaned and, obviously, had inconsistencies when compared to the inventory collected by the rest of my co-workers from their buildings, making the data we collected effectively useless for any kind of real reporting/accounting.

This is the email that I just received:

Teams,

**** has asked that we do a reconciliation of the student computer inventory. This information will be passed along to the School Board at the next School Board meeting. What we need from you is an accurate count of what machines are in the buildings for student use.

First, we need to know if you have access to a barcode scanner. If not, please reply ASAP so that we can get one to you.

Second, you will need to go to each functional (reliable or not reliable)student computer in the building and scan the asset tag and serial number (if easily attainable) into the included spreadsheet. Please create one spreadsheet per school. If the computer has no asset tag, attach one to the computer and gather basic inventory information to be included in your spreadsheet. Student computers include the following:

  • Classroom computers
  • Media Center computers (including checkout computers)
  • Labs
  • Cart Laptops
  • Read 180/Title I computers
  • Grant Computers
  • School purchases
  • Netbook deployment

Finally, please e-mail this to your Lead by November 21 at 5pm. Please let us know if you have any questions.

This is the cathartic email I have drafted up that will probably never be sent:

I do not have a barcode scanner.

I am vehemently opposed to, yet again, manually collecting inventory without any planned processes or procedures that will prevent this from being necessary yet again in the near future. To what end are we performing this task?

This is a systemic problem that is still not being addressed and we are already making the same mistakes.

“If the computer has no asset tag, attach one to the computer and gather basic inventory information to be included in your spreadsheet.”

What is “basic” inventory? Do you want me to record the OS as Windows 7, Win7, Windows 6.1.7601, Windows Pro 7, or Windows Professional 7. Is it an E5500 or a Latitude E5500; a GX755 or a GX 755, or an Optiplex GX755? Is it a 13” Macbook Pro, or just a Macbook Pro? In what format is the location expected to be recorded and with what specificity? These are the kinds of inconsistencies which make our inventory data historically useless for reporting, and the reason why we are collecting it yet again from top to bottom. What reason do we have to suspect that the information we’re going to get is going to be any more useful than the information we already have?

What are the challenges in collecting this inventory? I have 1917 devices at my sites and four business days to get it done. 32 hours / 1917 devices = ~1 device per minute.

How much does it cost to go about this in such an inefficient manner? There are 12 people that will be doing this work and four business days to get it done. At an average of $25/hr, it is going to cost us $9600 to collect this inventory. Is this information worth $9600, is it worth the lack of service that **** is going to receive while I accomplish this?

Respectfully,

Additionally: There is a ton of old systems left in our buildings and our leadership refuses to make a decision about WHEN a computer can be disposed of, nor are they willing to explicitly identify which systems need to be accounted for in our inventory.

I could really use some objective and sage advice at this point...

Edit: scratch that, I know what I've got to do, I guess I don't really need advice. Some empathy and solidarity might help though. :(

Posted Nov 15, 2011, 7:51 PM UTC · edited

1139
DoormattyTrade of all Jacks•

You're in the same position I find myself in often - you're trying to get the Company to be more effective, and they seem to be fighting back tooth and nail.

I think your e-mail has great points in it, but the tone is quite confrontational. Try rewriting it with the mindset that they don't know why this is such a bad idea (even if you know they do). I find that being "curious not furious" helps immensely (even if I don't manage to quite pull it off).

Secondly, there's the point that they're paying you, so it doesn't matter if you don't think it's worthwhile/efficient. I'm not saying it's fair or right, but it's certainly the truth if nothing else. If you don't like it, your only real option is to hand in your notice...which might not be a bad idea if they're making poor decisions like this repeatedly.

8
dVntOP•

but the tone is quite confrontational.

Believe me, I'm aware. It would be sent otherwise.

Secondly, there's the point that they're paying you, so it doesn't matter if you don't think it's worthwhile/efficient.

But here's the rub. We do not have any kind of quantitative/qualitative performance evaluations. The degree to which I am doing my job well is almost exclusively decided by rumor and speculation. I have no managerial oversight over my day to day work, nor do I have the autonomy to decide the best way of doing things, obviously. So, basically, my "bosses" get to have their cake and eat it too. They can make an outlandish request as they have here and then when performance evaluation time comes around they'll ring me out for not providing good enough service/support to my building.

One of the even more confrontational drafts of this email basically said, "You know what? I've got not problem with this, but you all need to contact the head of my building and let him know that he's going to be without support for the rest of the week and Monday."

...gah... I really do need to find a new job.

4
nanowatt•

That's a good email not to send. I think you're looking at this the wrong way. In their apparent cluelessness, your management have given you an opportunity to demonstrate your superior organization and attention to detail. You know better than they do how to track the assets. Don't ask, just go ahead and do it. You'll know if you succeeded if your manager takes credit for it.

7
dVntOP•

One of us is confused. I'm not asking for this to be done, our "CIO" is. And I don't really have a manager that could take credit for accomplishing this work. My manager is a person who is in the exact same position that I am with the additional duties of a manager.

I'm also pretty much stuck doing this the dumbest way possible, because part of the data they want is our own asset tag and it was not input into BIOS. I have to physically locate and scan almost 2000 devices in four business days. I feel like I'm wasting time right now, but they want us to use a scanner wherever possible and I don't have one.

1
nanowatt•

My point exactly. Your management have asked for something to be done without adequate consideration of the details involved. As a technician, details are your specialty. Nobody in this situation is as qualified or motivated as you to create an asset tracking system. In your next job interview (which ought to be soon), the hiring manager, at least the type of manager you want to to work for, will want to hear about what you did. Not what you got stuck doing.

6
dVntOP•

Oh, I get where you're coming form now. Thanks for the input.

1
[deleted]•

Have a boss that did me a favor and told me this very thing. Stop screaming at the wind and just go fix it. Started down that path and responsibility and change have been the fruits of my labor. Do what the man says and own it. If they don't see the light after you have done this then you jump ship.

1
lonejeeperOh, hey, IT guy!•

Wow, open-audit would really help you out. Even a clever NMAP would help.

3
dVntOP•

Technology isn't going to get the asset tag that wasn't put into BIOS...

FML.

3
Hexodamis a sysadmin•

If the original inventory contained mac addresses.... ;-)

1
dVntOP•

I don't follow. How does that get me a proprietary asset number located on a sticker attached to the machine?

1
Hexodamis a sysadmin•

You only have to do that once. After that is done then the asset inventory can be done manually. What i have done in the past is have the asset tag the computer name, makes life even easier.

What you need to come up with is a solution for the problem. Getting this done in 4 days is impossible so just totally ignore that, find a solution that solves this once and for all.

Start with the deployment part, make sure that process involves registering them in the inventory. Then make sure the inventory system tracks the machine through the network. Im guessing each building has its own subnet so you can use it for locating the machine.

2
born2hulaEschew Obfuscation•

Hit the gym, lawyer up.

No wait. You just need to remember that you're not the boss, and you're not in your previous job. So you do what you're told until you get a new job, which you should start doing ASAP before your career trajectory takes another turn for the worse. When you get a new job, get one where you are the boss, at a place who is looking to do things right, aka your way.

2
whoami9801•

It definitely isn't a GX755 or a GX 755. Dell dropped the GX sometime around the GX620(or is it the GX 620) I think it was just a service they provided for us in the support field. a couple less possibilities... it can either be a 755 or an Optiplex 755 no more GX YAY!

Sorry for being an ass and good luck...

2
callumnOffice365 Monkey•

I think it was the 620. The 745 wasn't a GX.

1
dVntOP•

Good catch... know-it-all! XD

1
SEA-SysadminDevOps Lead•

Reality check: school IT is awful...just get out. I worked school IT. Did a great job, got shat on and abused and told that "they'd have somebody else in line the second I left" when I demanded a raise. All I can tell you is that if you are working for anybody this dumb, you will definitely get treated like a know it all. They will likely have limited respect for your desire to improve things- because they are a school district, not a business. You will(you are) become bitter, and it will not benefit you at all. Don't let this happen. PS: the district did hire a replacement the week after I left. I called to let them know he was a sex offender. I tripled my wages after leaving schools.

2
dVntOP•

But, but, but, I'm so comfortable!

Alas you're right, and I don't think this is the first time you've told me this either...

It really is time to: apply to ALL the jobs!

How long did you work for a school district?

1
SEA-SysadminDevOps Lead•

Almost two years. Long enough to have a resume that could get me something slightly better. I am actually a licensed teacher...I ended up in IT at a school district that way. You'll find the right business and they will think highly of your desire to improve. Schools were hostile toward me when I brought up things like this... it was all sort of a jobs scam where everybody was as inefficient as possible so they could build and empire and keep more people in a job.

2
dVntOP•

Could I bother you with another question?

One of the things I was told in a How To Interview type of class in college was that you should never bring negativity into the interview. One of the concerns I have regarding the process of finding another job and interviewing is that, at this point, I feel like I would be very compelled to explain how horrible things are where I currently work, that I'm trying to escape an environment where a "desire to improve" is looked at with hostility, as you say.

I'm quite sure you've been through more interviews than I, so how do you suggest I go about conveying this point while minimizing negativity, or do you think I should just go for the gold and blow my current environment out of the water in front of an interview panel? I don't want the negative aspect of my pitch to sink me, nor do I want any prospective interviewers to think that I'm a know-it-all that will constantly want to do things my way and won't work in a team.

1
SEA-SysadminDevOps Lead•

The fact that you have the social skills necessary to even phrase this question means you'll do fine! Here's how I usually phrase my answer to that question: "I worked with a lot of great people, and I enjoyed a lot of my time there. I realized that there are definite limits to my role and my potential in that job, and I decided that I was not willing to stop growing professionally. At my next job, I'm looking for a chance to grow myself - and the organization, and be a little closer to the decision making process in general."

Often I get asked questions about what I didn't like about the previous job. This is a great chance to demonstrate your ability to take orders, even orders you do not like. This is a quality often referred to as "maturity," and Ive found that interviewers love it. Craft a narrative about how you handled a situation you didn't like...rather than one about how awful the situation was, or how stupid the people were.

2
[deleted]•

Like doormatty said, sounds confrontational. Are you there to help or there to make people wrong whenever they want something done? Explain you need more time if need be, clarify what is wanted, etc., but at least sound like you want to do it.

1
Skeletor2010•

I think you also need to take into consideration that sometime a physical audit will need to take place. Make sure that computers are still where they are suppose to be. However system specs should be audited electronically because manual entry is the most problematic, inefficient and error prone manner to do anything of this magnitude.

In other words what I am saying is that an asset tracking system should have been put in place to maintain the information. However possibly on an annual basis you should be able to pull a report and just confirm that the equipment is still in place and no one has moved or removed the equipment.

1
dVntOP•

I think you also need to take into consideration that sometime a physical audit will need to take place.

Of course, I understand that. I suppose you'll have to just take my word for it, but what I'm being asked to do is repeat the failures of years past.

1
Skeletor2010•

I do not doubt you. Can you start a pet project where you maintain an asset tracking system and cut out a majority of the work. When they see you are done in two days instead of nine they might take notice?

2
rstr1212Ctr_Alt_Delete•

I learned from my last job, that sometimes you just gotta let things fail. Get the inventory you can with the time alotted, if you don't get it all don't beat yourself up. Also don't make excuses. Be truthful and say, "I did the best I could".

1
pojodojoyou know the nazis made jews wear flair•

Well you already have the cost of collecting inventory there. Why not see if rather than using man hours to do the work, invest in something like a Dell KACE, which will do the inventory for you?

Solves your problem of having to do all that work, and they get their inventories still.

1
dVntOP•

Thanks for the comment.

I would very much like to see something like this done. Unfortunately, this notion is irrelevant to the necessity of another physical inventory, as well as the time frame in which I am expected to get it done.

1
whateverradar•

If they pay you to pat your head and stare at the sidewalk do it...

-1
dVntOP•

I can understand why comments like this are posted, but I really do not appreciate them.

3
whateverradar•

Only so much you can do. if leadership doesn't get it you will not be showing them the light.

1
dVntOP•

Yeah, I guess this is basically what I was looking for out of this thread. I really need to buck up and muster the fortitude to find a better job and leave this place.

1
DoormattyTrade of all Jacks•

It's sad but true. It took me nearly 9 years to figure that out, and when I did...my life got SO much better.

3
timschwartz•

what a sad life

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