Keeping current on IT Trends / Solutions

Hey guys:
I thought this may be a good thread to start. I work in a colocation/datacenter and we are always looking for new ways to provide services to our clients. One of my major drawbacks is keeping current with everything enough so that I can provide good solutions. Our CTO is incredible at this. Any time there is something that is offered up as a solution he is able to rattle off a number of reasons why it's either a good or bad idea. Granted, he has 13 years in this business so at times I don't feel too bad, but I am going into my 2nd year with this company and my role is going to grow. How do you all keep current with everything as well as trying to learn what you lack right now?

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Comments

remyforbes777

Wow, I thought everyone would be all over this question. Ha.

djhss68

He probably has a lot of time on his hands to do research and read articles from his desk all day, while the rest of the IT staff are busy doing the real work.

NightShade03

I TRY to stay ahead but its hard there are just so many hours in a day you know? I have an RSS reader that I setup for different sites to pull down new products, up and coming things, etc etc. I only get to go through about half of the RSS feeds though because there are about 2000 articles that come down a day...

I take anything up and coming that I might read and try to implement some things in a lab or find upsides/downsides like your CTO.

Also I can only sleep 3 hours a night and be fine so that helps with those extra hours too

tiersten

remyforbes777 wrote: »

Wow, I thought everyone would be all over this question. Ha.

You gave it 3 hours on a Sunday...

remyforbes777 wrote: »

Our CTO is incredible at this. Any time there is something that is offered up as a solution he is able to rattle off a number of reasons why it's either a good or bad idea.

That is his job. He wouldn't be a good CTO if he didn't keep up with new technology.

Read the various tech news sites. Get a subscription to some of the technology magazines. Talk to other people in the same position/area.

msteinhilber

As others stated I'm pretty much the same. I have some subscriptions I receive at work (Technet Magazine, Network World, etc) and look through as I can. I also read various tech news websites, blogs, forums, etc.

Don't feel too bad though, as CTO they probably have a fairly high level overview of a lot of the latest trends and what's good/bad about them. When it comes to the actual technical implementation that's why the people underneath them come into play. It would be a lot easier to keep current with a wide range of general knowledge on solutions on the bleeding edge if you didn't have to know them in depth enough to design, implement, and support them (which most CTO's don't do).

Forsaken_GA

Executives who learn new buzzwords while 'keeping current with trends' can be your worst nightmare.

'Why aren't we offering cloud computing to our customers?'

'Because no one can make up their mind exactly what cloud computing *IS*?'

NightShade03

Forsaken has a point our CTO decided he wanted to upgrade exchange 03 to 07 and bought a netApp and all this stuff but had no understanding of virtualization or high availability.

rossonieri#1

i think it really depends on what situation you are in.

if you mainly behind the desk - as not a mobile person, or your job did not allow you to go out of the office - then the internet is your best friend : the forums, vendor websites, newsmail, IM etc.

usually, that is when i'm not too busy telecommuting i visited internet forums to sharpen my knowledge. looking for any news, any unanswered questions etc.

but when i do a lot of telecommuting - some talks to customer concerning their environment, their needs also be a good motivation. visiting some "same job function" friends - chat around on coffee shop over dinner to exchange problems & solutions & news & some work progresses will bring a lot of new vision too, and some seminars.

that is only me

RTmarc

I do a lot of reading.

remyforbes777

tiersten wrote: »

You gave it 3 hours on a Sunday...

That is his job. He wouldn't be a good CTO if he didn't keep up with new technology.

Read the various tech news sites. Get a subscription to some of the technology magazines. Talk to other people in the same position/area.

Yeah, I was really just razzing everyone. Nothing serious. He is the CTO but he and I are the only tech guys there so he does admin work as well. The guy is super smart. He isn't a suit that sits in his office all day and doesn't know the technology behind things, he is really sharp.
I guess what I am trying to get it is, what tech news sites, what technology magazines etc.

shednik

It all depends are what your interests are....mine being networking and security here are some of my daily/weekly sites

SecurityFocus
Darknet - The Darkside | Ethical Hacking, Penetration Testing & Computer Security
Here
Wikipedia
Slashdot - News for nerds, stuff that matters
NetworkWorld.com - Network World
CCIE Blog - Helping you become a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert
Home Of PaulDotCom Security Podcast
Network Security Blog
Hak5 - Technolust since 2005

I could go on for a while

just browse around there is a wealth of information to keep your techiness up to par

remyforbes777

shednik wrote: »

It all depends are what your interests are....mine being networking and security here are some of my daily/weekly sites

SecurityFocus
Darknet - The Darkside | Ethical Hacking, Penetration Testing & Computer Security
Here
Wikipedia
Slashdot - News for nerds, stuff that matters
NetworkWorld.com - Network World
CCIE Blog - Helping you become a Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert
Home Of PaulDotCom Security Podcast
Network Security Blog
Hak5 - Technolust since 2005

I could go on for a while just browse around there is a wealth of information to keep your techiness up to par

Thanks for the links. I am interested in a lot of different areas simply because I have to deal with a lot of different areas. I deal with Cisco, Linux, Windows (Exchange 2007, Server 2003), Firewalls, etc. I guess that explains why my focus is haywire.

jamesleecoleman

Right now I just sit behind the computer most of the day reading random things.
When I was working, I would talk to my coworker about different types of hardware/software. We would share ideas and comments. We talked less when
he started to work in his own area sooo I would have to get into his area and
pretend that I'm talking about actual work. Instead I'm learning something new.

94jedi

djhss68 wrote: »

He probably has a lot of time on his hands to do research and read articles from his desk all day, while the rest of the IT staff are busy doing the real work.

Honestly, this is the answer.

Most of us bust our butt's all day then we get home and have to study for certs. it's a PITA. Even though this is a partial hobby of mine, when I'm done, I'm done and I don't want to see a computer.

The CTO's job is to stay current. He knows alot about those key topics on the surface but I'd be he knows nothing about implementation and administration of those technologies.