Should I be insulted when boss talks to IT support company?

Zoomer

Over the weekend my boss got a random sales call from an IT support company that helps companies set up or maintain their IT needs. He gave me a call the other day to look into the company and see what I can get while he gave them a call. After looking over their website I found that I have just about done everything they list they can provide for companies with the exception of setting Exchange, IBM mainframes, Fiber, wireless (overruled against everytime I suggested implementation) and setting VOIP for our phone system. Most of which is overkill for our company.

I'm the ONLY IT support tech in our company and I have managed fine so far. Any other major improvements have always been talked about, but getting a meeting to discuss anything is hard and my supervisors push me back all the time. I was a little upset when I got the call, but should I be? It couldn't hurt to have someone elses opinion about our security and network design. Yeah, I don't have any certs yet (planning on taking Net+ mid June) but should I be worried about losing my job?

undomiel

I wouldn't be too worried about losing your job if you're looking busy and helpful. If they have the impression that you sit around and don't do much (wrong though that impression may be) then you could be a bit worried. Give the company a fair shake and explain how they would or wouldn't be a good investment in additional support.

I have my boss double check me all the time. I find it pretty insulting, but I know that in my case my boss doesn't trust me whatsoever. So she is always bringing in the admin from our sister company to double check my work. I don't mind her getting a second opinion but I do find it pretty insulting when she is having someone look over what I do because she doesn't think it was good enough or because she doesn't like the answers presented to her. But I live with it. It's a paycheck. Just don't forget to get cracking on those certs and make sure your resume is nice and polished. It never hurts to be prepared.

Mishra

Companies do this all the time. They like to have "experts" come in and take a look at your network and suggest improvements. When in reality the company is selling themselves by saying that they have done X which usually equals everything IT related. But Bob the consultant comes in and only knows AD and Symantec anti-virus and give a bunch of stupid opinions on everything else.

So this is basically what I do. I invite my boss to let them come in and check everything out because it will be a HELP to me. Then while he is doing his thing, I evaluate his real skills and what he can actually perform. I show him the really crappy jobs that NEED to be done like setup monitoring/auditing and what he is an expert at. He leaves.

Your boss comes to you with a laundry list of things that they created for him to do. You tell your boss that the guy that came in here was only good at X and that he should take those jobs and run with it.

Very normal, you aren't going to lose your job. Take advantage of the extra person there to help!

dynamik

It's always nice to have a backup source of support in case you're unavailable, something happens to you, or you leave for another job. I don't think they're trying to replace you.

My biggest pet peeve is when someone buys something stupid without consulting me (even if it's for personal use). Some guy bought an expensive PCI (not express) video card from Best Buy the other day and was complaining that it didn't perform well. No duh

royal

A lot of the consulting companies I go to have really great engineers on staff. They just want someone who specializes in something to make sure things are healthy. It's always good to have a second eye on things to make things are in tidy shape. I wouldn't take offense to it as long as you're doing a good job.

Mishra

royal wrote:

A lot of the consulting companies I go to have really great engineers on staff. They just want someone who specializes in something to make sure things are healthy. It's always good to have a second eye on things to make things are in tidy shape. I wouldn't take offense to it as long as you're doing a good job.

See I have had a negative experience most of the time. There are usually 1-2 great people in the company but those aren't the people who do the evals of your company.

Our locations probably have a lot to do with it.

Turgon

Zoomer wrote:

Over the weekend my boss got a random sales call from an IT support company that helps companies set up or maintain their IT needs. He gave me a call the other day to look into the company and see what I can get while he gave them a call. After looking over their website I found that I have just about done everything they list they can provide for companies with the exception of setting Exchange, IBM mainframes, Fiber, wireless (overruled against everytime I suggested implementation) and setting VOIP for our phone system. Most of which is overkill for our company.

I'm the ONLY IT support tech in our company and I have managed fine so far. Any other major improvements have always been talked about, but getting a meeting to discuss anything is hard and my supervisors push me back all the time. I was a little upset when I got the call, but should I be? It couldn't hurt to have someone elses opinion about our security and network design. Yeah, I don't have any certs yet (planning on taking Net+ mid June) but should I be worried about losing my job?

It's by no means the end. This happens a lot. It can work to your advantage. Let them come and be helpful and remain positive about it all. Remember that outside consultancies can add value but you know the specifics in terms of how things hang together the way they do and why. A positive working relationship with a company like this could help you because they want the business and will be available to help to out, and your boss will value your opinion about any findings presented if you run with this positively.

doom969

Mishra wrote:

Companies do this all the time. They like to have "experts" come in and take a look at your network and suggest improvements. When in reality the company is selling themselves by saying that they have done X which usually equals everything IT related. But Bob the consultant comes in and only knows AD and Symantec anti-virus and give a bunch of stupid opinions on everything else.

Dont generalize too much. Some consultants are bad and some are really good. When you are preparing to deploy X new project/server, its good to have an expert help you with the design and migration.
Also some in-house IT staff are happy to have help because they are overworked or dont feel they have sufficient knowledge to design a project with a new technology.
While I agree that some consultant will try to bullshit your boss, there are very respectable consultant with established reputations who will really do their best to support you and help you, even make you more valuable to your company because they provide 3rd line support or training...
just my 0.02$

Turgon

doom969 wrote:

Mishra wrote:

Companies do this all the time. They like to have "experts" come in and take a look at your network and suggest improvements. When in reality the company is selling themselves by saying that they have done X which usually equals everything IT related. But Bob the consultant comes in and only knows AD and Symantec anti-virus and give a bunch of stupid opinions on everything else.

Dont generalize too much. Some consultants are bad and some are really good. When you are preparing to deploy X new project/server, its good to have an expert help you with the design and migration.
Also some in-house IT staff are happy to have help because they are overworked or dont feel they have sufficient knowledge to design a project with a new technology.
While I agree that some consultant will try to bullshit your boss, there are very respectable consultant with established reputations who will really do their best to support you and help you, even make you more valuable to your company because they provide 3rd line support or training...
just my 0.02$

That's very true. I am one such good consultant but there are some bad ones. Keep an open mind and give it a chance!

paintb4707

I wouldn't mind personally. I'd actually appreciate to have a second opinion on things. Being the only IT guy for an entire company can sometimes make you feel pretty skeptical of your own decisions without advice from someone else. At least that's how I feel. I like to consider myself very optimistic, maybe a little too much. Often I would have difficulty making a decision on my own unless I get someone else's advice first.

blargoe

Sometimes it's good to get a different perspective, or to simply hand off certain work to an outside entity if the workload is higher than the in-house can manage properly.

Mishra

doom969 wrote:

Dont generalize too much. Some consultants are bad and some are really good. When you are preparing to deploy X new project/server, its good to have an expert help you with the design and migration.
Also some in-house IT staff are happy to have help because they are overworked or dont feel they have sufficient knowledge to design a project with a new technology.
While I agree that some consultant will try to bullshit your boss, there are very respectable consultant with established reputations who will really do their best to support you and help you, even make you more valuable to your company because they provide 3rd line support or training...
just my 0.02$

I have been burned a few too many times by consultants not knowing what is going on so I do have a negative opinion about a lot of consultants and I probably shouldn't express it when offering opinions to someone new.

But in my second post I mentioned that you can get good ones. And if you follow my directions then it caters to good consultants and bad ones so it all works out in the end.

liven

Something else to think about, perhaps they are going to put in a place a system you don't already have. Like VOIP or the fiber, then maybe you will get to assist in setup and maintain the stuff in the end. Which means you get to put that stuff on your resume. Hey knowledge is knowledge.

hypnotoad

It's hard for me to summarize in a few sentences how badly consultants have screwed us, so I won't elaborate.

Just make sure you limit their power and that they get in and out -- never let a consultant take over for more than the duration of the project, and always be skeptical.

NetAdmin2436

I always like to think of consultants as plan B...or a good backup plan. Don't feel too threatened by them. There is A LOT to know in IT, especially as your network grows and it's easy to overlook something trivial. I found a good consulting company here in Minnesota that knows enough and doesn't bug me with phone calls....Ever. I call THEM when i need help, not the other way around. I typically find that the 'consultants' who call you, aren't that good and are just looking for ANY business because they have none.

On average I call in my consultant 1-2 times a year if I get stuck or do something stupid like untinstall IIS from an exchange server (whoops!). Also, watch how they handle a problem. I've seen a few times that my consultant had to get on the phone with Microsoft or the vendor. Makes me feel a little better knowing even they had to ask for outside help. Then I think 'dang, why didn't I think to do that'.