18 replies to this topic

[ImTheTypeOfGuy]

I am excited and apprehensive at the same time. My company has asked me to take a new position to lead our IT group. I currently am our Global Supply Chain Manager and have been for 7 years. Moving into this role is fine in some area's: I am our expert on our ERP, MOC, Complaint System, and know a lot about exchange, office, OS's, etc. But am very weak in networking, security, and I am sure other area's. I will have three people supporting me; they are an IT Manager, helpdesk technician, and network administrator. I am going to add an application analyst. Of course there are a lot more details but keeping it at a high level to help frame my question.

WHERE DO I BEGIN?
- Learn Security?
- Learn Networking?
- Learn Exchange More In Depth?

Wow, my mind is spinning.

[jmwills]

Congrats on the job!

Put Exchange on the back burner. Get neck deep into Security and Networking.

[pcdoc]

I am excited and apprehensive at the same time. My company has asked me to take a new position to lead our IT group. I currently am our Global Supply Chain Manager and have been for 7 years. Moving into this role is fine in some area's: I am our expert on our ERP, MOC, Complaint System, and know a lot about exchange, office, OS's, etc. But am very weak in networking, security, and I am sure other area's. I will have three people supporting me; they are an IT Manager, helpdesk technician, and network administrator. I am going to add an application analyst. Of course there are a lot more details but keeping it at a high level to help frame my question.

WHERE DO I BEGIN?
- Learn Security?
- Learn Networking?
- Learn Exchange More In Depth?

Wow, my mind is spinning.

Congrats. Personally I would not be too concerned. You obviously got the job because you have a grasp of the big picture rather than the small details which is what will make a difference. Stay with your global and project based approach and learn the rest as you go, rather than getting bogged down in details. Leadership is what want, vision, stay with it the rest will come. That worked for me and is the basis of how I promote managers. You want people to get things done and leading the team and maximizing their skills is the best way to do that. IF you lose sight of the end game you will have challenges. That my two cents.

[ikon]

I agree with pcdoc. You have a network administrator. Just make certain he/she knows what they're doing. To me, your job sounds like they want you to get the most out of your people, not do the stuff yourself.... my 2 cents.

BTW. congrats!

[Joe_Miner]

I am excited and apprehensive at the same time. My company has asked me to take a new position to lead our IT group. I currently am our Global Supply Chain Manager and have been for 7 years. Moving into this role is fine in some area's: I am our expert on our ERP, MOC, Complaint System, and know a lot about exchange, office, OS's, etc. But am very weak in networking, security, and I am sure other area's. I will have three people supporting me; they are an IT Manager, helpdesk technician, and network administrator. I am going to add an application analyst. Of course there are a lot more details but keeping it at a high level to help frame my question.

WHERE DO I BEGIN?
- Learn Security?
- Learn Networking?
- Learn Exchange More In Depth?

Wow, my mind is spinning.

Congratulations! I'm sure you will do an excellent job in this new position.

[jazzerjay]

Congrats on the job!

Put Exchange on the back burner. Get neck deep into Security and Networking.

I agree! That's awesome news!

[Mr_Smartepants]

That's great news, congratulations!
As the others said, you're in a leadership role now. You need to provide clear direction to your people. You just need a good idea of the fundamentals and where your company's technology is heading. The worst thing you could attempt is to try to know more than the folks working for you.
As General Patton said: "Never tell people HOW to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."
My dad used to say "The man who knows HOW to do a job, will always have a job. The man who knows WHY the job is needed, will always be the boss."

[ikon]

"The man who knows HOW to do a job, will always have a job. The man who knows WHY the job is needed, will always be the boss."

Your dad is a wise man.

[ImTheTypeOfGuy]

Thanks for the responses guys. Yes you are right it is a leadership role. From one leadership role to the other I guess. With that said, there are some items that I will need to be the expert on. The current team is made up of doers moreso than decision makers. Security is one of those roles, as long as developing our five year strategy. I have kto know enough about our current systems, network, tools, etc so that I can develop the strategy.

So leadership and security appears to be the consensus.

As General Patton said: "Never tell people HOW to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity."

I have heard this quote before but never knew it was Pattons. I never really cared for the first part of the second sentence. I always personalized it to The them what the problem is and they will surprise you with a solution with ingenuity.

[thobel]

Thanks for the responses guys. Yes you are right it is a leadership role. From one leadership role to the other I guess. With that said, there are some items that I will need to be the expert on. The current team is made up of doers moreso than decision makers. Security is one of those roles, as long as developing our five year strategy. I have kto know enough about our current systems, network, tools, etc so that I can develop the strategy.

So leadership and security appears to be the consensus.



I have heard this quote before but never knew it was Pattons. I never really cared for the first part of the second sentence. I always personalized it to The them what the problem is and they will surprise you with a solution with ingenuity.

You could use consultants to get you started. Security assesment etc not a bad idea to get a total picture of the state of the network as you are now responsable for them.

[ikon]

You could use consultants to get you started. Security assesment etc not a bad idea to get a total picture of the state of the network as you are now responsable for them.

Good points. If the company can be convinced to pay for them, a network TRA (Threat Risk Assessment) and an overall network architecture analysis would be good places to start.

[jmwills]

How large is the company?

[ikon]

How large is the company?

Yeah, that's why I was saying, "If the company can be convinced to pay for them". Unfortunately, most small companies can't afford the studies,which is too bad cause they're often the ones that need them most.

[ImTheTypeOfGuy]

We are about a $300 million company. Compared to other companies in our industry and our size, we are well below on IT spending. I will definitely be utilizing consultants as that was negotiated before I accepted the position, as well as hiring another employee.

I plan on doing a security and network assessment. One company already made a proposal to look at both. They use a method they call Core Infrastructure Optimization. NOt sure if this is an industry term or their buzzword.

First official day of the new job is tomorrow. I am looking forward to working with my new team tomorrow and hopefully begin learning the new role. Who knows when that will begin as they have to hire a replacement for me in my old role. It will be crazy for a while.

[pcdoc]

We are about a $300 million company. Compared to other companies in our industry and our size, we are well below on IT spending. I will definitely be utilizing consultants as that was negotiated before I accepted the position, as well as hiring another employee.

I plan on doing a security and network assessment. One company already made a proposal to look at both. They use a method they call Core Infrastructure Optimization. NOt sure if this is an industry term or their buzzword.

First official day of the new job is tomorrow. I am looking forward to working with my new team tomorrow and hopefully begin learning the new role. Who knows when that will begin as they have to hire a replacement for me in my old role. It will be crazy for a while.

No doubt. Good luck and I sure you will do fine.

[fredp1]

One of the first points to review is backup/ recovery/ DR plan. Theirs nothing worse than having a disaster only to find the backups could not recover a working system completely.

You don't want this happening on "your watch"

Congrats.

[ikon]

One of the first points to review is backup/ recovery/ DR plan. Theirs nothing worse than having a disaster only to find the backups could not recover a working system completely.

You don't want this happening on "your watch"

Congrats.

Yep. Mind you, there are a ton of things to look at; one of the reasons I recommended consultants. Hire several to look at different things at the same time. Co-ordinate them, then consolidate their recommendations and come up with a plan to recommend to management.

[jmwills]

All good points, but since you came from the ranks, you already know who the slackers are and who the workers are. Focus on the slackers. Something that worked good for me was to team strong people with those who need help and rotate responsibilities about every 90 days so no one gets bored.

Also, I would let personnel focus on their strengths to begin with and then take on additional responsibilities. Train someone who can take over for you; it frees you up for vacation time and also makes your promotable.

[ikon]

It strikes me that there are a number of us here that have experience managing teams. A lot of the advice sounds very familiar