Understanding the Roles of the IT Generalist and Specialist
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@scottalanmiller said:
On the StorageCraft Blog Generalist or Specialist: Which IT Path is Right for You. My latest article posted while we were down in Austin and I have not had time to share it until now.
Interesting article.
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@scottalanmiller I'm definately in that generalist role now. Would like to eventually transition into a specialist role with mostly Windows OS and virtualization (both Hyper-V and VMware).
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Generalist for life!
Seriously, I simply do not want to specialize. Never did.
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I honestly like both. I hate not being able to get involved with everything, but I like getting deep on some tech too.
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@scottalanmiller said:
I honestly like both. I hate not being able to get involved with everything, but I like getting deep on some tech too.
I share your sentiments exactly.
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@scottalanmiller The article was interesting and something that I can (an likely will) use to help people understand what they are getting by hiring Bundy & Associates for their IT needs instead of using someone in house.
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Yes, MSPs are an important source of specialists in the SMB IT world of generalists.
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@scottalanmiller said:
Yes, MSPs are an important source of specialists in the SMB IT world of generalists.
Within our company, I am the Generalist, we also have web developer, programmer, and SQL & Business Intelligence people.
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I'm definitely a generalist for now. I wouldn't mind being a specialist but I don't have enough experience yet really to be a specialist at anything much. I like networking, servers and security a lot though.
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@thecreativeone91 said:
I'm definitely a generalist for now. I wouldn't mind being a specialist but I don't have enough experience yet really to be a specialist at anything much. I like networking, servers and security a lot though.
You have to make a real effort to make specialist happen. Typically the focusing process starts early.
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@JaredBusch said:
@scottalanmiller said:
SQL & Business Intelligence people.Database Administrator / Analysts (not even sure why they call it IT Analysts for DBAs). is something I swore off a long time ago.
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I doubt I'll ever be a specialist. Especially if my current decision to alter my career path sticks, I'll forever be a generalist, as far as IT is concerned.
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Over all I believe I fall into the Generalist field,.. but lean towards Specialist in some areas like desktops.
Not only can I build a server, clone a desktop, build a website - I have been a event clean up technician (okay,.. dishwasher) Office space technician (aka grunt) and more.
I've put a hand on a number of things over the years...
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In a place like ML, wouldn't we expect to see primarily generalists? There are more dedicated resources for the specialist.
This mass breath of knowledge is what drew me to SW in the first place.
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@Dashrender said:
In a place like ML, wouldn't we expect to see primarily generalists? There are more dedicated resources for the specialist.
This mass breath of knowledge is what drew me to SW in the first place.
Oh yes, places like ML and SW you will find almost exclusively generalists. If you are a specialist you will likely have a "small" community focused on exactly the thing in which you are a specialist. Generally that would mean a vendor hosted community. If you are an Oracle DBA you will likely hang out in Oracle's own forums. If you are a Windows specialist, TechNet. If you are a Red Hat Linux guru, Red Hat has a community for you.
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@scottalanmiller said:
@Dashrender said:
In a place like ML, wouldn't we expect to see primarily generalists? There are more dedicated resources for the specialist.
This mass breath of knowledge is what drew me to SW in the first place.
Oh yes, places like ML and SW you will find almost exclusively generalists. If you are a specialist you will likely have a "small" community focused on exactly the thing in which you are a specialist. Generally that would mean a vendor hosted community. If you are an Oracle DBA you will likely hang out in Oracle's own forums. If you are a Windows specialist, TechNet. If you are a Red Hat Linux guru, Red Hat has a community for you.
Plantronics, you have the Sounding Boards...lol
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I'm a specialist of generality. Not really. I was a full-time Access developer for a couple of years, does that make me a specialist. There are also probably only a handful of people in the world that know our current ERP system as well as I do - does that make ma a specialist? I've been working on it for 15 years.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
I'm a specialist of generality. Not really. I was a full-time Access developer for a couple of years, does that make me a specialist. There are also probably only a handful of people in the world that know our current ERP system as well as I do - does that make ma a specialist? I've been working on it for 15 years.
The question is not if you have focused on it, but do you focus on it. Do you do anything besides the ERP system? Then you are probably a generalist. A specialist would be 95% - 100% job role on one very focused thing, full time. Not hopping between things or mixing things. You mention multiple things in which you might be a specialist. If you think of more than one thing to mention, that probably answers your question.
For example, do you support desktops? Servers? Networking Gear? Applications? Each of those would be a specialist, if you combine them, you are a generalist.
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I'm probably 90% ERP, so I'll go for generalist then.
Interesting what you said about managers having to manage people to be a manager. That's maybe a US thing. It's not the case in the UK - a manager manages but what he manages doesn't have to be people, it could be other things.
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@Carnival-Boy said:
Interesting what you said about managers having to manage people to be a manager. That's maybe a US thing. It's not the case in the UK - a manager manages but what he manages doesn't have to be people, it could be other things.
What all are called managers then? Like are janitors "waste managers?"
There are specific, normally mocking, job titles that use manager now in the US but everyone knows what they mean and there is zero pretense. Like "office manager" is now a joke term for "secretary." It's actually a lesser title because it denotes someone putting on pretenses when they really just fetch coffee. Someone with the actual title of secretary is likely more senior.
