More and More SBS 2003 Training

Good to see more resources for the 70-282 exam but I would still like MS to release an official book.

I’m not stressing about the claim that an average computer user could deploy SBS, even if they could what the hell are they going to do when they come into work and the server won’t boot?

Panic!

 

The amount of sick SBS boxes I inherited last year was a joke, although it’s a good thing for me as it means more clients and therefore more money being pumped into the business.

I’ve seem everything (I think) from no backups, no AV, a firewall configured with allow all inbound traffic, a cracked copy of XP on 20 PCs and the genuine advantage tool picked this up the same day (give or take a day or two for each PC) and finally some really poor email setups with POP connectors and forwarding rules flying around all over the place.

In some cases it has been ‘someone who knows about IT’ who has installed the server to save the company some money but in reality it has probably cost the company money with downtime and also there is a great risk for a small business to go bust with a major data loss.

Me: Do you test your backups?
New client: Ummm, we did a few years ago.

One thing that does pi55 me off is that some of these servers have been installed by “IT Companies”. I’m guessing there is many of these cowboys around the Small Business sector but I think the standards should be the same even though it is not a corporate IT environment.

I have met some of the other companies when there is the official ‘handover’ of the network and I often wonder how they got into IT. Arguably it’s not the best circumstances to come into contact with another IT company but I remember a comment from one guy who said “Good luck, this company is a nightmare”.

I spent a week on site fixing all the problems the previous IT company had created\not fixed and now the client is happy and has been added to our pool of existing clients and there has been no hesitation renewing the support contract. I think it was more of a case that the previous company didn’t have the expertise to fix some of the issues on the network and the client just lost the plot!

Getting back to topic there is a always shortcuts taken in the small business sector but if you want IT to work the way it should then it has be installed and maintained by an experienced IT pro. End of rant!