Weight loss update 30/09/11

My current weight is 19st 7lb and I'm now down to 56 points a day which i'm still struggling to get to.

Need to do more exercise that fits in with a desk job (or need a job that fits in with exercise lol)

Ramblings of a Geek

Gary Kemp, a former colleague, has started a new blog/forum for providing peer support for IT issues.

Check it out - it'll be interesting to see how it develops

Personal Development

I've started the road to my next lot of education by signing up as a student at the Open University Business School. Initially, I'm taking the Professional Certificate of Management but I'm hoping to then go on to do an MBA.

As part of my initial reading, I've started reading James Caan's autobiography and it's actually very insightful. I'd recommend reading it even if you have no interest in business as it's a fantastic story in it's own right.

How does tech support have an impact on the bottom line?

I've been thinking about this for a while so I thought i'd put it in a blog and share my thoughts on it.

It's a question I've come across quite often in my long(ish) career in IT - many guys that I've encountered working in support think that it's the sales team that bring in the money and that they just have to fix issues. I've been in that position and sometimes when you're right in the middle of something, it can be distracting to have to put it to one side to fix someone's print spooler or scanner or excel macro... well you get the idea.

The thing is, the support guys probably have far more contact with the customer than the sales team ever did - to the customer these guys are the company and it's their experience with the front end that decides how long they remain a customer. Ultimately, without customers you have no business.

I read a blog post over the weekend on the MS Dynamics Community that put it in a much better way than I could.

In my last job we went on training with Ken Blanchard who is a great speaker on effective leadership. One point he makes is that if you (managers) want to change your business for the better, then you need to lead from the front. Incentivising good performance is also another great way of actioning change in an organisation.

Any readers of my blogs from the past will notice that this post has a little more business focussed content than they're used to. I have just started the road to an MBA so you can expect more of this sort of stuff along with the usual tech stuff.

IT4Charity Blog

I'm in the process of developing a blog at work. It's still a work in progress but feel free to take a look.

It's at http://www.it4charity.org.uk/blog

Published Work

I need a repository for a list of my published work so for the time being, this is it:

Microsoft Identity and Access Management Series (Joint Author)

Accelerated Linux administration for experienced HP-UX or Sun Solaris administrators

Systems Management Server 2003 Concepts, Planning, and Deployment Guide (Subject Matter Expert and Beta Teach)

Installing, Configuring, Troubleshooting, and Maintaining Windows Vista (Lead author and beta teach)

Exchange Server 2003 Security Hardening Guide (Lead Author)

Introduction to Installing and Managing Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 (Lead author and beta teach)

Using Windows System Resource Manager with Windows Server 2003

Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 Speech Server (Lead Author)

Of blogs and blogging

We've just been having a conversation about blogs at work which made me think of this one.

I've not been near my personal blog for a while now as I tend to post opinion and the stuff that was previously blog fodder to Facebook and, more recently, Google+.

For anyone interested, I now have a new job. University is over and I'm working full time again.

I may post some stuff here if the mood grabs me.

Almost there...

So

I have an exam on quantitive research methods on Friday. I'm finding revising for this incredibly tedious but I guess it has to be done. I also have a multiple choice test to do online by Saturday night and then my first year at university is complete.

I can't believe how quickly it's gone. It only seems like yesterday that I was severely depressed and agonising over having to work in IT for the rest of my life. Time flies and all that... :)

Now that i'll have lots of time on my hands, I hope to start blogging more frequently.