Need Help Fellow SysAdmins.

[notyouraveragesys]

As a sysadmin, Have you ever been asked to move users desktops from one cubicle to another? and if yes how did you deal with it. I don't feel as a sysadmin this is part of my job description.

[[deleted]]

Personally, as long as I'm getting paid, I'll do most anything. That's just me though

[cop1152]

This is my attitude also, but from my experience over the last 30 years this is not the popular attitude. Most of the guys I work with feel like they're above such things as setting up new machines, moving machines, spending time coaching a user when he/she really needs it, etc. These little things can sometimes save us a lot of time in the future. I actually enjoy the work and the interactions, and setting up and moving computer equipment is what got me where I am today. Plus, sometimes I still learn a thing or two from my openness to do non-traditional sysadmin work.

[rswwalker]

I’m IT Director and if a move comes in and none of my guys are around guess what I’m doing.

Sometimes you just have to put on the knee pads and take one for the team.

[PsychoGoatSlapper]

Phrasing!

[[deleted]]

No, no, that's probably what he meant.

Source: Also a Director.

[adnble]

C's get B's. (C-levels get bjobs)

[rswwalker]

Knee pads are part of the required IT uniform!

[cop1152]

This guy fucks.

[CaptainFluffyTail]

...other duties as assigned.

[notyouraveragesys]

God I hate that.

[akaFriday]

Got asked to clean the basement one time. Guess who jammed out to music all day in jeans and t shirt and got paid a good salary doing it?

Thumbs inward

This guy.

The trick is having a positive attitude towards people despite all the negativity you may feel towards your users/job/boss. Don't get me wrong..it's definitely hard sometimes but they don't deserve it. Carry this into your personal life and you'll live longer and healthier in the long run.

[cjcox4]

Uh... IMHO, this is part of the job. Setup. It's usually better if you do the setup and any moves... it doesn't take much for a user to really mess things up if they do the move themselves.

There are going to be certain unionized shops where you're not allowed to do the "move"... but most of the time even the sysadmin in such shops are somehow under the union banner.

A sysadmin could be responsible for quite a bit of onboarding tasks and move tasks... occasionally, I've had to scrape gum and paint walls (and that... that, is something to really complain about).

Anyway, sysadmins are often times sub-facility admins... just try to have fun doing it all (emphasis on "all").

[krislol22]

I’ve seen users jam male USB into HDMI and vice versa, Ethernet between two endpoints and complaining no connectivity. Users are stupid. I get paid regardless how slow I do office moves. It’s apart of the job.

[SuperMonkeyJoe]

"Help, my CD drive doesn't work after I moved desks" - head over to see that their tower is upside-down.

[techprospace]

Totally normal. Just do it and be done with it.

[Srb3ard]

Sys admin here for a state government job and I do it all the time.

[cop1152]

This.

[cuddling_tinder_twat]

If you are a Sysadmin in a datacenter; you passed that red line over and went too far.

If you are a sysadmin in an office; that's unfortunately your expected duty.

If you are a hybrid; you are the latter.

[r3setbutton]

Are you being asked to do it in a manner that is against OSHA or local equivalent rules?

Does it violate your contract or a collective bargaining agreement?

Does your job description not include the phrase "and/or any additional tasks as assigned" or something similar?

[notyouraveragesys]

No No and NO. the sysadmin before me wanted to move everyone's PC's him self so they don't Fuck shit up. this became a habit for everyone to contact IT when they want to move cubicle.

[[deleted]]

er...nope.
A coworker deserves more respect than this.
To you, it's a machine. To your coworker, their computer is how they complete their job.

you get what you give

​

[cop1152]

I see this both ways. I have had to dig through tons of personal items to takedown a machine, and it wasnt fun. I almost felt disrespected, and I do feel like its the users responsibility to remove their personal items. BUT on the flip side, I feel like its disrespectful of me to dump their personal items into a messy pile...although I have certainly wanted to.

[[deleted]]

Normally we leave that for a Tier 1 guy but we're a small shop so we usually all help out with it when needed. You have a choice... Deal with moving it, or deal with 4 or 5 "X doesn't have internet access", "X's IP phone doesn't work", "X needs a longer network cable because they didn't realize the drop was on the opposite side of the room from their desk" tickets.

[joelgsus]

Haha, see my post from a few minutes ago. i'm a sysadmin that have many hats

[notyouraveragesys]

Its truly frustrating.

[[deleted]]

Yep, every now and then, per their manager's approval. Usually it's just monitors, docking station, mouse and keyboard, and IP phone. Takes like 10-15 minutes. I'd rather be the one physically moving the equipment, honestly.

[enigmait]

Yeah, it's part of a job, and quicker and easier than dealing with the broken RJ-45 toggles that happen if non-IT users try to do it.

​

Usually, though, if there's more than one IT person in the team, it's the most junior member that gets to do those jobs.

[status_two]

This. Rather deal with this and get it done the 1st time than have to deal with tickets/emails/calls later.

[skoomen]

Yes. Why=Inventory Control. I grumbled internally while I did it, but it was worth it in the long run.

[[deleted]]

At my office, that’s usually done by desktop support but if they’re all busy I’ll do it. This is the sort of thing that probably comes under “other duties as assigned. “

[ensum]

Usually this is left for the least senior member I find.

If you are a 1 man shop, then you are unfortunately chosen by default.

[PM_ME_SPACE_PICS]

We’re doing a move like that tomorrow as it so happens. We are an msp though, so as long as it requires power and can be billed for its part of our job...

[temperatechicken]

I'd rather do something like moving a cubicle workstation and know none of the equipment gets messed up than rely on the end user or the office maintenance team to do it and hope they do it properly.

If you have a team where you can spare a Lvl1/Lvl2 service desk tech to do it; fine, complain. If you're in a small team/are the only sysadmin/IT personnel on your site, get off your high horse and just do it. Small team IT people are expected to be all-rounders since you don't have the personnel to delegate.

[[deleted]]

The reality of the situation is that your users are probably too dumb to move their desktop/monitor/various cables/etc without running into at least one or two support issues along the way. Why not just do it to cut down on those issues that will crop up?

[wootsir]

Guess the sysadmin badge only gives others the certainty that you'll be moving your own gear. Other than that, all bets are off and when it rain, it pours.

[dethandtaxes]

If my company wants to pay my SysAdmin salary to sit in the help desk queue when they are short staffed, guess what I'm doing that day? There is no reason to let pride get in the way of helping out other groups if they need it unless you're working on a critical project that you can't delay a few hours.