Being the only sole I.T person in branch office.

Being the only sole I.T person in branch office.

Anyone have experience in this and is this hard?

what are the benefits and pros and cons of this?

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wweboy

When I worked as the only IT person for a branch office it was okay there were days where I was stretched thin and if something hit the fan all my other items that needed to be done that day took the back burner but I really liked it too. I was responsable for ordering stuff from CDW such as hardware, ink etc. I got to see things outside of my normal view and for once get some more responsibilities outside of just making sure a user was helped or whatever.

I got to learn a few new things while having to figure stuff out on the fly (like a user moves an office and your PBX is from 1991 and its 2009) and I got some say in how I wanted things to be ran and things of that nature and plus I still had other co-workers I could reach out to such as my manager or the network administrator when things got too harry all in all it comes with a set of challenges but you can take a lot away if your willing to step up and get your hands dirty.

Pros:
Tons of hands on experience with multiple things such as servers, network infrastructure, phones, hand helds etc
getting your roots into the office getting to run the location as you see fit

Cons:
Your only one person
Juggling multiple items and constantly having to prioritize though out the day
On call 24 / 7 getting calls early in the AM when something goes bump in the night
Vacation days? WHAT VACATION DAYS?!?!

I'm sure other people in the same position can add a ton more.

SteveLord

wweboy wrote: »

When I worked as the only IT person for a branch office it was okay there were days where I was stretched thin and if something hit the fan all my other items that needed to be done that day took the back burner but I really liked it too. I was responsable for ordering stuff from CDW such as hardware, ink etc. I got to see things outside of my normal view and for once get some more responsibilities outside of just making sure a user was helped or whatever.

I got to learn a few new things while having to figure stuff out on the fly (like a user moves an office and your PBX is from 1991 and its 2009) and I got some say in how I wanted things to be ran and things of that nature and plus I still had other co-workers I could reach out to such as my manager or the network administrator when things got too harry all in all it comes with a set of challenges but you can take a lot away if your willing to step up and get your hands dirty.

Pros:
Tons of hands on experience with multiple things such as servers, network infrastructure, phones, hand helds etc
getting your roots into the office getting to run the location as you see fit

Cons:
Your only one person
Juggling multiple items and constantly having to prioritize though out the day
On call 24 / 7 getting calls early in the AM when something goes bump in the night
Vacation days? WHAT VACATION DAYS?!?!

I'm sure other people in the same position can add a ton more.

Sounds like my first IT job! Had an old Nortel Meridian PBX dropped in my lap and knew zilch about telecom at the time. Had 4 days training from the previous guy. He had been there 8 years, so I had a lot to uphold. The 2 years experience there really set me up well for my current job.

Another con: The risk that everything that plugs into a wall somehow becomes your responsibility!!!

The only thing I didn't have to mess with there was the copiers, in which their support was contracted...as they almost always are.

KrisA

jakecitrix wrote: »

Being the only sole I.T person in branch office.

Anyone have experience in this and is this hard?

what are the benefits and pros and cons of this?

It is a 50/50. You are the first one everyone goes to. Depending on how it is set-up, that person is on call 24/7 - 365. 2 Years ago on my birthday at dinner with my wife, the warehouse "went down".... no connection to HQ.. warehouse management ..down...email..down... We had to leave dinner and work became the priority - the CIO called my phone to ask if I was on my way back into the office...

You become "The Face of IT". I personally loved it. I was the only "Service Desk Analyst" out of 7 that access to every server in their building. Because of this, I learned SQL,Oracle, the "backend" of VIOP, on and on.. As others said you get to run it how YOU want to run it (Still can be limited) but I had everything on my end running smooth, and because of that I was sent out of state to help pull fiber to another building, install and configure the gear. The Network Engineer and Director choose me because I was knowledgeable in what I was doing, and the facility could live without me for 4 days. If you like different hats, it can get you into almost all aspects.

jakecitrix

interesting aye.

joehalford01

I love being the only in house IT guy. It's been a heck of a learning experience, and I do get to touch everything. We have an outside vendor that we rely on to help move the heavy projects, expertise and help in general. I'm still learning and I just don't have time to do it all. One thing I don't like is having non-IT roles that I have to fill being in a small office, it makes me well rounded though.

pham0329

Personally, I wouldn't accept any offer where I would be the only I.T person. I've had jobs like this in the past, and usually when an office requires only 1 person to manage their IT, it's a super small size office and I end up surfing the web half the time.

While you get to manage everything, unless you're doing a horrible job, things shouldn't be breaking often enough to occupy your time.

jakecitrix

yeah but i mean, you will be just locate in the branch office and the headquarters i.t ppl will do stuff remotely etc but u will be there all by yourself.

I am worried about the experience part you guys think i could grow and gain more experience and skills if i was in the headquarters rather than branch or it does not make a difference?

Heny '06

Im currently the only IT person on site to assist with the immediate IT issues, IE you need someone there on site to fix/trouble shoot. Mind you I do my fair share of application and deskside support, HR, office services, I get pulled and asked to do all kinds of stuff since we become so versitle.

I think it depends on the setup. Are the severs local or is everything housed in headquarters? Do the system admins allow you to work with them on issues/updates(if servers are local, me I cant its all done remotely)

The position can be good and bad dependending on what type of responsibilites you have on the back end, front end shouldnt be hard its basicly deskside support.

Another con is that there is really no way to show/prove/gain manager skills since it is only you. If you wanted a mangerial type role could prove difficult for people to gauge your mangerial skills.

Ask your self what do you want to take away from this experience.

These positions can make your self marginalized very quick so becareful

Bokeh

I do that now. I am the sole IT person for a regional office, and 15 satellite offices in two states. I do have corporate IT folks to back me up when I am on vacation, sick, etc. In fact, they are taking calls for me while I am out in another office 145 miles away today.

As others have said, if it plugs in, you are responsible for it. Shredder, phones, copiers, tv, you name it. Be prepared to get called after hours even if the business is not open after 5, be asked to work on weekends for special products, etc. I enjoy every bit of it.

chrisone

sounds like hell.....

battlese

I agree it's a 50/50 mix. I worked at the corporate office of an engineering firm for a couple years doing helpdesk. I got great reviews but there was nowhere for me to advance to so I (buy luck) took a job with one of their competitors. Thing was I would be the sole IT person in the regional office (actually I had to cover 3 regional offices). I questioned my IT abilities but went for it anyway. At the time all I had was A+. I wanted to prove my worth, so within 6 months I got my Network+ and then soon after had my MCSA. I still had helpdesk duties but I also got the opportunity to set up a couple servers (first with corporate help then solo once they could see I knew what I was doing) and do office moves. Tons of knowledge that you can't put a value on.

The biggest hurdle for me was that I'm a little on the shy side and realized my only help will be on the other end of the phone line. Nothing like picking up the phone and dialing a complete stranger asking for help! Turns out I made a couple of good friends during my 7 years there and now that I've moved on I still call them to keep in touch.

Pros: tons of hands on experience and personal growth
Cons: You're the only one to blame! The reason I left (and went to the corporate office of yet another competitor) was in my situation managment only "saw" the IT guys in the corporate office. They got all the goodies (bonuses, perks, better raises) because they had "face time" and interaction. Sure your network may have been running smoothly but sometimes they forget you're there.

Devilry

I manage a couple different hats where I am (not only in IT), but we are a small office and I am the sole IT person here, and everytime something goes wrong, I am the one to blame, even though usually its user-error. That is the only con I can think of. You get to learn a lot though!

Heny '06

I dont view getting blamed as a con, in IT, were always the ones to blame especially when your dealing with people who are not that tech savy. As long as you can tell your in an environment where there displeasure at times isnt personal you should be fine. But I will say you essentially reach your ceiling there. Keep that in mind. Best of luck

Tackle

SteveLord wrote: »

Another con: The risk that everything that plugs into a wall somehow becomes your responsibility!!!

Ding ding ding. Some days I feel like a glorified maintenance guy, even though my title is "Network Engineer". No joke - I have been called down to the daycare center (in the basement of our building) to troubleshoot a vaccuum cleaner. Also had to look at a weather radio the same day.

If it weren't for the hotties fresh out of college down there, I would probably have them call the actual maintenance guy.

If I'm called to work on a multi-function printer I usually tell them I never went to printer school. My guess is as good as theirs as to why it's got a couple smudges or dots on the page.

Devilry

LucasMN wrote: »

If I'm called to work on a multi-function printer I usually tell them I never went to printer school. My guess is as good as theirs as to why it's got a couple smudges or dots on the page.

hahaha, I know this feeling way way way too well!