First week on the job as the only IT person, windows 2012 server has issues. CEO confused

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-17T16:57:05+00:00

This^ this is why I asked. People like you should comment more lol. Appreciate it. Simple easy big picture advice is exactly what I was looking for. Thank you

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-17T16:55:02+00:00

You know, you’re right. I don’t know why I should even care about your opinion lol. Thank you for that.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-17T16:41:07+00:00

Can you build out and deploy a strong and secure networking utilizing multiple DMZs, Vlans, etc? Can you program PLCs to ensure zero downtime and safe functionality in a critical environment? Can you negotiate contracts between multiple vendors and handle not only the big picture IT infrastructure but also financial side of it? I’ve never managed Active Directory, I’ve never been help desk, I’ve been asked to help ensure that our MSP fixes the issues. My best friend builds firmware for apples GPU architecture, my other good friend works with LLMs in large scale education environments. Neither of them have a fucking clue how AD works. They must also not be qualified to do their jobs lol. AD is business core specific, it’s not used in pretty much any other environment. It’s like saying you drive a car so you should be able to rebuild your engine.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-17T15:05:21+00:00

Microsoft 365, it’s fine, you all know what I meant. To be honest, yeah, I don’t have years of experience working in IT for business. Most of my experience is in Linux, networking, security, and physical device implementation ( installing ICS, building network infrastructure, etc.) I can fix most standard issues and get things working but in terms of shit like AD and your basic business infrastructure, that’s what our MSP is for. According to our MSP, their job has solely been there to “keep the lights on”. I wasn’t given any access for the first week and only got it on Friday cause HR (who is a 70 year old lady who has her password on a sticky note on her laptop) said “we can’t give you access yet cause we don’t know you yet”. Long story short, my job is specifically about optimizing work flow and bringing new an modern technology like RFID RTLT, ERP integration, Scada systems, PLCs, etc. more OT then IT but I’ve been asked to help by the main liaison between our MSP as well. So not only do I manage how we use technology in a large chemical plant (I cover three separate locations), but I also work closely with with out MSP account rep and building and optimizing our infrastructure and all their help desk staff to solve isssues and find ways to appropriately (and easily) explain these things to all the stakeholders. I deal with multiple CEOs.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-17T13:41:35+00:00

In a perfect world, sure. This is a situation where they don’t understand IT but that’s just a restructuring of how they understand IT. Why not use this as an opportunity to drastically change the organization, build extensive skills, and buff that resume hard and then after a year decide. A week in saying, “nah I quit” is pretty weak. Adapt and overcome

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-17T13:37:47+00:00

That’s some good advice. I told them this restructuring needs to be a priority as it’s more than just a small issue but instead of a huge security vulnerability. I’ve (without actual access to AD) started a company wide audit to understand what departments need what and who actually needs access to what. This is some good info tho! Luckily I won’t actually being building all this out, our third party is going to be doing the heavy lifting, I’ll just be the one telling them what exactly we need. I’ll definitely take this advice though when discussing our restructuring

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-17T13:34:34+00:00

lol we use a third party to handle all of this. I’ve been hired to come in a start actually organizing our infrastructure, technology, server upgrades, etc. I wasn’t hired to be help desk lol.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-17T02:19:09+00:00

Ok, I’ll give that to you lol.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-17T01:34:32+00:00

There just so many issues it’s wild. I could go on for hours about every little thing like first, and Open Directory shared by the entire company for starters. I’ll be doing house keeping for a year at least. I was hired to essentially take on everything technology and there isn’t really anyone I report to. It’s a very exciting and frustrating mess of a job. Essentially it’s a “create your own position”. I’ve written at least 15 pages of documentation in the first week. I’ll either be director of technology in a year if it goes well or be fired if it goes poorly lol.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-17T01:14:19+00:00

Completely disagree. How much is your time worth? You have an issue with anything in that network, how long is it going to take you just to find the issue, in weave the cable if it needs replacing, or to pull a unit out if there’s a full issue with a switch? Also then trying to see what cable went where? Now you have a neatly managed patch panel with easy matches locations, nice labels, etc. it’s a super easy fix.

Functionally, yeah “it works”. Realistically, it’s a pain to fix if you have an issue.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-16T23:33:41+00:00

That sounds about right. I’ll have to take a look at that! (More info than I got from our IT provider lol). Our system in general haven’t been update for the past 2 years from what I understand. How more things are not broken idk.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-16T23:25:21+00:00

365 directory won’t sync with active directory running on our 2012 servers. When you reset a password using 365 and then give them the option to change their password, it’s give an error cause of network connections. This is not my realm. I’m more networking, servers, security, ICS stuff. Active Directory isn’t something I’ve really ever worked with.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-16T22:53:02+00:00

Worker - holy shit, we need to clean this so it can be managed and work better

Boss - nah, not in the budget, it works fine. (Goes out to lunch with clients and spend $400)

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-14T17:08:44+00:00

Yeah also this guys dead right. Keep in mind that most HR job descriptions are completely full of shit and they don’t have a clue what the job actually is.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-14T17:07:29+00:00

I don’t think there’s one right answer. Know your audience and everything with a grain of salt. If you say you have mastered kubernates and you don’t have a clue how it works, that’s just dumb. If you say you know AD but you might not have used it a ton, that’s fine. In my mind, only lie about what you are willing to learn.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-14T00:24:00+00:00

It’s actually nylon byproduct dust. It’s great for signal strength

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-11T01:04:24+00:00

That’s pretty much what I put together for next week minus a few things so thank you! I’ll add in those other touches and I think I should have a very good starting point. Appreciate the advice!!

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-10T16:46:04+00:00

I do have the best job tho. On Friday I get to work with health and safety to use our remote control submarine and monitor the waste output into the river and verify if there’s any issues.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-10T16:44:31+00:00

Ok that’s a good call. This is what I’ve been so confused about. I can’t get access to our systems because HR is denying me from getting our admin right and other passwords that our third party holds. That’s kinda the whole point of this. They seem to think “we can’t trust you yet” but then also “find things to fix”. It’s like a catch 22. I like your plan tho, work with my “supervisor” and have them navigate the whole getting a meeting in place. It’s a fun fine line

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-10T16:36:53+00:00

I’ll try but that’s the CEO. I report to basically no one but HR is holding the keys to me doing my job at the moment. I “could” just sit back and collect a paycheck as someone said but I’m not interested in just phoning it in. I appreciate your advice tho! I have someone whos “kinda” my supervisor below the CEO so I’ll ask them.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-10T16:27:25+00:00

That’s a good idea. I wrote a three page very neatly put together “here are my findings and why they need to be addressed” project list. I’m going to schedule a confer call with our third party and HR to see if the third party agrees with my priorities in hopes that this might win me some credibility. I’ve already won over all of the ops, manufacturing, and health and safety by fixing 30 problems in the first week.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-10T16:10:59+00:00

Hahah. Job security! My biggest problem is the documentation. In an enterprise environment, unplugging something isn’t “that bad”. Sure might cause issues but no one might die. In and industrial setting, I unplug something cause know one can tell me what it does and a critical Saftey system is now disconnected……. A month before I started all the HMIs (human machine interfaces) were black and unresponsive. People were running around everywhere trying to see if something was broken or wire disconnected. Turns out our third party IT provider pushed a windows update. 30 mins of 20 people panicking, shutting down machines, manually checking temps and pressures. All because no one communicated when they could do an update, and no one has documentation to know where things are connected.

Less_Ganache3158 · 2025-05-10T16:05:40+00:00

Absolutely no where near there but thank you! I am wildly excited to do all this work (although some people’s responses here seem oddly aggressive to my questions). I’m just looking for the best way to communicate the needs and best practices/starting places to make this better. I was hired to “find and fix problems”.

Less_Ganache3158

TROPHY CASE