On Wed, Sep 28, 2016 at 12:28 AM, Brian Westerman < [email protected]> wrote:
> Hi John, > > Our company (Syzygy Incorporated) fully supports more than 70 sites > remotely, all over the world. On top of that we provide partial support > for another 60 to 70 sites. Some are large (300+MSU) and some are quite > small (8 to 10 MSU), but they all need our expertise and not being > "on-site" has never been an issue. We also have a suite of system > automation products that we maintain at several hundred sites. > > Even 10 to 12 years ago, it was very unusual to be "at" a site or if you > were physically there, to be anywhere near the actual computer room. Once > a site realizes that the systems programmer doesn't need to be in that > room, it's only a small jump for them to understand that you get just as > much support from the next floor, or the next building, or the next city, > etc. I can still remember some knock-down drag out fights between the > systems programmers and the operations group on whether or not the systems > programmers should ever be allowed into the computer room. We (systems > programmers) always won that argument, but now I wonder why I fought it for > so long. :) > > The important thing, and the the clients expect it, is that we are always > productive. We aren't there to baby-sit the site, we are constantly moving > forward on whatever it is that we need to get done for them. You have to > always have a plan and be able to show progress. You can't just bill the > hours, you have to show what you did. You can't sit around and talk about > the kids/wife/parents with anyone. When you are off-site, you're not there > to just generate hours, you there to get things done as well, actually > better than it can be accomplished by someone at the site. Sometimes the > clients will be amazed at the "speed" that we get things done, but some of > that is just that we can focus on the project without a lot of > interruptions. Some of it is because we have enough people here that if > you run into a problem you can't get a handle on, someone else you have > access to will likely already have the solution. > I just learned that I will be the "complete push" at this location. That is, the one and only sysprog responsible for z/OS and all program products, including DB2, IMS, & CICS. I gather that I will control CICS, but only responsible for installation & maintenance of the IMS & DB2 software, no DBA type responsibilities. Good thing since I can barely spell them. But it is a bit nerve racking for me. I do like having someone watching my 6. Or just to be around in case something horrible happens. > > I don't use video chat, we have it, but I don't think it's necessary and > just plain don't use it. I generate a LOT of email and I document > everything that I do. If you can't type well, then get one of the PC based > typing/dictation programs. Luckily, I can type fairly well. At least compared to most sysprogs & programmers. I am a touch typist and have been for years (like back in high school). > You need to have a way to keep track of EXACTLY what you are working on, > especially when you are supporting several sites at the same time. You > must be able to communicate and you have to make sure that you stay in > front of the ball at all times, you can't be reaction-oriented, you must be > proactive. You have to use (if they have it) or set up (if they don't) a > problem control system, or you will become so bogged down in "little" > things that the big issues will slip away and you will become ineffective. > Ah, the above is very germane to this. I get the impression that they don't have anything like this set up and that _I_ will be at least one of the main architects of how to do it. I don't know if they would be open to a vendor ($$) solution or if they would expect me to roll one on my own (which I did at another company - it worked, but <yech>). > > Each site has to have at least 1 progress meeting a week that tends to be > about 1 hour long. There can be more, but 1 is the minimum. It's the > place to lay out what you have completed, and what you are going to > complete, plus it give you (and the site) a chance to stay on the same > page. It's very easy, especially with multiple sites, to lose positive > control, and you have to stay on top of EVERYTHING at all times. Every > site I work on has a substantial to-do list divided into short and long > range items, and that's just the things I plan to work on, there will also > be a number of "problems" that need to be resolved. > > If you want to talk about this, feel free to call me and I'll be happy to > go over things with you. > I appreciate the offer. > > Brian > > -- Heisenberg may have been here. Unicode: http://xkcd.com/1726/ Maranatha! <>< John McKown ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
