I’ve been meaning to write on this for awhile now.  Last year was filled with all sorts of challenges and opportunites, and I wanted to touch on just a few things from 2006 that have made life in NewPointe’s IT world more enjoyable.

1. Virtualization.  Hands down, the best thing to happen to our servers.  VMware is totally reshaping the way we do server deployment and recovery planning at NewPointe.  The ability to have multiple installations of Server2003, XP, or even Linux running on a single box is HUGE, especially when money and space are both a little tight.  You can even do a physical-to-virtual conversion on your existing servers.  I haven’t had a chance to try that out yet, but I’ve already got a test box ready for it.
2. Helpdesk system.  It used to not be a big deal to just take word-of-mouth requests.  Anymore though, it’s all but impossible to remember them.  Our Facilities crew has felt the same way for some time now.  Right after we moved into our new building, we had the opportunity to roll out WinRT (the Windows-ported version of Request Tracker) to our staff.  They have all done a terrific job of embracing the system, as direct email and walk-in requests have all but disappeared.  WinRT’s interface is friendly enough for anyone to use, and it’s got enough features and flexibility to support most smaller organizations and get them started.
3. Volunteerism.  With a new building comes a new network, but we had a pretty unique situation that almost left us with a very limited infrastructure.  In the end (about 8 weeks prior to opening day), we had to pull our own cable to extend the network and phone system out of the office area.  It was volunteers that made this possible, because there’s no way that I could have pulled that cable myself, especially through the ceilings (I have acrophobia in a big way).  I get a stomach ache when I think about how crippled our network would be had we not had volunteers step up and make it happen.  We owe much to our volunteers for this as well as many many other things in our facility.

There are plenty of other things to talk about in 2007, but these are the 3 items that really brought positive change and momentum for us in the past year.  I’m looking forward to seeing what 2007 has in store for us.