Miscellaneous
How can IT contribute to the business if they are kept busy and trapped by taking care of infrastructure? That's one of the questions we tackle in this conversation I recently had with two IT admins from smaller businesses. Both of these admins, one from a tire manufacturer, and on from a public health department, talk about their roles and how they add to the operations of their respective businesses. We were gathered for the launch of Nutanix Xpress, their new offering for small- and medium-sized businesses. We all appeared in an online video program (hopefully it will appear online soon and I'll link to it) that was launching the product. Afterwards we gathered for this podcast. Both guests are long-time Nutanix customers, and jumped in early and with both feet with Nutanix. The platform is performing well for them and this "invisible infrastructure" is giving them more time to contribute in value-added ways by using technology in the service of the business. Tom, who works at a public health department, was able to roll out new Electronic Medical Records software. Charlie, who works at a tire manufacturer, was able to bring analytics and electronic records to a far-flung wholesale and retail operation that was still operating on paper. And it goes without saying (although we say it in the podcast), that they don't think they'd be able to do that if they were busy managing separate servers and storage like some caveman. Other questions we discussed: Should you be a IT generalist or specialist? The trap of IT becoming enamored with just technology Advice to young sysadmins Spending time on security: luxury? My guests in this conversation were Charlie Kavaloski - LinkedIn Tom Lockhart - LinkedIn Enjoy the whole conversation. We did!