We asked the Spiceworks community to share with us their IT-related New Year’s resolutions. Based on our analysis of the responses, here are the top IT resolutions for 2016:
Catching up on documentation
- I shall document all the things
- I pledge to document more often and make it of better quality in the New Year!
- Create a central wiki for company documentation/processes
- My New Year's resolution is to beef up my documentation skills...or rather, just make the time to crank out documentation
- My tech resolution for work this coming year is to document EVERYTHING!!! I have been starting to document and update documents for our various sites. It's a painful process, but when it's done it will be well worth it
- Written and documented procedures. You never know when the bus is rounding the corner...
- Finish all the documentation that seems to get pushed to the bottom of the list
- Create interactive "documentation" of my network, so that my team (or any new member) can go open the main document/page and click through to configs, descriptions, policy, device interfaces (SSH, RDP, etc.) -- including a clickable image of network rooms, racks, etc.
Getting more IT certifications
Tthe responses showed, MCSE, CCNA, CCNP and other Cisco certifications are particularly popular in the Spiceworks community:
- Stop pushing off going for certs and actually get some
- My personal resolution for the coming year is to place a larger focus on studying and passing my certifications. This means reading more books, practicing labs and studying practice exams
- Get at least one certification. VCP maybe
- Get AWS certified
- To get my MCSA Server 2012 R2, N+ and Security+
- Get my CompTIA A+ and NET+ certificates!
- I plan on finishing up my HCISPP cert and completing the last credit hour for my degree.
- Continue my training, and start focusing on the Ethical Hacker cert that I need.
- I would like to get my CEH and Security+ this year.
Getting more training to improve key skills
- Learning PowerShell topped many lists, as did Linux.
- My IT New Year's Resolution is to increase my skills and stored knowledge of Powershell so I can continue to better automate things and in turn improve things for our end-users
- Convert all existing batch scripts to Powershell. Also, learn how to program in Powershell. Not sure which one will come first
- Push myself to learn more Powershell finally! I've been dragging my feet
- Mine is to learn Powershell...my colleague is a whizz at it and keeps trying to coax me in!
- To learn Powershell and UNIX scripting
- Learn more PowerShell and start automating things - too much time is being wasted doing things manually
- My resolution will be to kick my training up a notch using my virtual lab and Pluralsight subscription
- Learn more (read: something at all) about SQL and SQL Server Administration
- Learn more about Exchange
- Learn to get the most out of VMware and Citrix
- Programming (game creation, wish me luck), networking (not the “talk to people kind” either...) and learn Microsoft Excel inside and out
- Learn to write apps for Android
Providing better customer service
- My resolution is to help my customers move towards a better environment, that balances security and usability and ensures that all downtime is kept to a bare minimum. In other words, I resolve to be the best MSP in our area, and to continue to help our company grow! (I know, a little cheesy, but still...)
- My resolution is to be more proactive and less reactive
- Delegate more
- Get the DR plans finished
- Get everybody on-board with ticketing!
- Rework our PKI top to bottom
- Retool AD onto 2008/2012
- Rip apart DHCP and rebuild the right way
- Manage customer expectations. One of our IT resolutions is to provide better helpdesk support to our users. We identified what our users need to know:
o How long before I should expect a response?
o What do I do if I'm not getting a response or if my problem wasn't fixed?
o Who do I contact for help?
Being nicer to users
- Keep calm and remember users are people too
- Mine is to be more patient when explaining (again and again and again) how to use Snipping Tool to send me screen shots, instead of Print Screen, Save to Word, Print, scan to PDF, then email the me the PDF
- To learn more patience and understanding of those "special users" in my daily life at work
- I would like to learn how to listen without hearing. (Note from editor: Oh dear!)
- To have more patience in general with all things
- I intend to purposely be more cognizant of the user as a relationship opportunity for me. Even if I am just helping them with a simple problem over the phone there is an opportunity for me to build a relationship that will make our users feel better about the company they work for and make them say "we've got the best IT department in the world"
- My IT New Year's resolution is to focus on user training this coming year to help them become more self-sufficient
Getting rid of troublesome old technology
- Mine is to do away with the outdated fax machines
- Get all of our machines off of XP (we have a vendor solution that can't work with newer, except that all we have to do is buy a new server and upgrade their software then we can upgrade)
- Remove all printers from the building. We literally have no reason to have printers now
- It has to be completing the upgrades to our user's pc's and server room that started late this year. Those things are dinosaurs. I mean some of them are still single core cpus....
- My New Year’s IT Resolution is to get all of the NT 4.0 and Windows 2000 machines out of my environment :(
Tidying up
- To finally get my server closet cleaned up & tidy. It's been well over a year since I was supposed to start but can't with all the fires needing to be put out & new projects requiring more attention
- To finish cleaning the storage closet
- To get better at cable management. I suck at running cables neatly. No matter how hard I try it still ends up looking like crap. Not so in 2016!
- Re-cable the server room, color code all the cables, cable tie them all neat and tidy, ensure everything is labelled up including ports and which UPS device each power supply goes into
Relaxing more / improving health
- To actually rest and not think about work
- Take a vacation and lose some weight
- Create more time for personal life / family
- To learn to relax when dealing with dumb arrogant users
- Use more of my annual leave; which being the only IT Admin at my company... hmmmm
- More healthy life style and diet. I have more specifics, but TMI
- I also realized that I've spent too much time working and not enough time looking after friends; virtually everyone I know has paired off or moved away. So I'm making an effort to build up my social circle, outside of IT
- My resolution is to not worry about the place when I'm not there
Conclusion
The IT pros in the Spiceworks community are interested in self-improvement, through training, learning by doing and getting certifications. They acknowledge that documentation often gets deprioritized, but is important, so a good thing to focus on in 2016. Tidying up their environments is also an objective. They also want to take steps to improve customer service and to treat their users more positively. Finally, they want to take steps to improve work/home life balance and to improve their health.
Post Script
Our own Javvad Malik has just completed a tidying-the-home-office project that he had resolved to do. He used wood, metal, power tools and spray paint. Reportedly, he felt so manly that the Mayor of London had to issue an elevated testosterone alert!
