@Kelly said:

If you have a boss that is interested in developing you as an individual, take this to them without making it about the coworker. Ask them something like, "Hey, I got some feedback from a coworker that I don't consult enough with my peers. What is your take on that, and do you have any suggestions for how I can be a better tech/coworker?"

Kelly, I will do just that if it becomes necessary. As it is, every time I start talking, this co-worker stops what they're doing and turns and looks at me. It's getting kind of creepy actually.

@coliver said:

@Kelly said:

If you have a boss that is interested in developing you as an individual, take this to them without making it about the coworker. Ask them something like, "Hey, I got some feedback from a coworker that I don't consult enough with my peers. What is your take on that, and do you have any suggestions for how I can be a better tech/coworker?"

If we had a best answer button I would give it to @Kelly this is what I would do in this situation as well.

Yeah, that's great advice.

@Aaron-Studer said:

AJ - I thought by changing your username that you were turning over a new leaf. Guess not.

I have. I just don't see the whole purpose of the post. If it's for fun, why are you hosting it? Do something like this on your own hardware.

@Breffni-Potter said:

@handsofqwerty - We all know that even visiting a website about the topic of Encryption will add you to a watch list. I'm sure @Aaron-Studer knows this.

The day we stop asking questions for fear of the man, is the day Big Brother has taken complete power.

No I know. I'm not saying we should fear it or not question it. I'm just saying that thinking we can beat them at this point seems kind of silly.

I work 7a-4p and then 5p-9p tomorrow, and will hit up karaoke after at my favorite bar. Sunday I will sleep and have some other plans.

I work with customers at my retail job, go to one of my favorite hangout bars/restaurants, or watch TV shows. Social interaction is a big part of it. My meds help too. But social interaction and having someone to vent to (@Nic, @Minion-Queen, @IRJ and a couple others are the primary ones) helps a ton.

Besides, I know you said you were doing it just for fun, but did you never consider that a post like this will red flag some places? If you're trying to figure out how to beat the NSA, ummm, you're going to lose that fight my friend.

@Aaron-Studer said:

@handsofqwerty said:

The OP made me chuckle...

And you still wonder why people don't like your comments.....?

If you think you can hide stuff from the NSA, as @Breffni-Potter said, good freaking luck. They were spying on every American and we had no idea until a consultant leaked the info. You think they can't get at your data if you encrypt your HDD, change the root password, and setup keys? Seriously?

The OP made me chuckle...

They did the refund but to a card I no longer have. Trying to get them to change that.

@dafyre said:

@handsofqwerty I'll take Android stuff if you don't want it! 8-)

No, I got it because I WANTED Android and not the Apple stuff.

@Minion-Queen said:

@nadnerB said:

@Minion-Queen said:

For the Mac's? Well they come in 2 colors really so not really there. However you better believe that all my accessories match cause Mac stuff has a million pretty colored accessories to choose from. And as you can imagine everything is very girly looking. Some people on my team complain when they get something of mine cause it is either purple or pink

lol! Stylish hand-me-downs from the boss.
I bet @Mike-Ralston loves rocking pink notebooks when at Starbucks
lol, does he even drink what ever they serve there?

Yeah he hates IOS/OSX anything so he refuses to take anything from me. It's @scottalanmiller and @art_of_shred that tend to get my hand me downs.

Yeah, I always got all the Android stuff...lol

@MattSpeller said:

@handsofqwerty said:

I should mention you HAVE to open those in IE. Stupid Microsoft IIS site...

Have you tried chrome IE tab addin? it even works with our crusty old wifi controller and Mitel systems

Edit: would not recommend for end users, 100% kick ass for IT use

I have. I like it but find that I'd almost prefer just to use IE natively. But it IS a great extension!

@scottalanmiller said:

Internal discussions are also great for training. You learn a lot that way.

Agree with that wholeheartedly!

@scottalanmiller said:

@Dashrender said:

As for the rest, MSP's really everyone exists in a bubble? I understand that a customer wants a single throat to chock, but at the same time on the back end if Tech A assigned to that account is out.. would not Tech B go assuming they were free, etc?

Coverage and team isn't really the same. Sure, they will have coverage, but that doesn't mean that they are likely to consult each other about practices. At NTG, for example, if something is being architected the engineer in question has to have it peer reviewed. I do a lot of that peer review. I ask a lot of questions like "why this technology", "have you looked at this", "how will this or that be addressed", "what is the cost", "have we talked to management about risk or cost, etc." It's often pretty lengthy.

That's what most MSPs don't do. Most internal IT doesn't either. If someone is out and someone else takes the calls, sure, they "all" do that.

I can attest to how long some of these consult calls go. We meet with the customer to gain information to what they need, and then we had a discussion internally that was many times three to four times the length of the consult with the customer, which is how it should be. They tell us what they want in mostly broad and some specific terms, and then we figure out what will be the best solution. But yeah, for one customer in particular, the meetup with @NetworkNerd and I was 45 minutes or so. The internal discussion between @NetworkNerd, @FiyaFly, @scottalanmiller and myself was at least 3 hours, if not longer.

@IRJ said:

@handsofqwerty said:

@IRJ said:

@thecreativeone91 said:

I believe you need to uninstall IE10 first or it will just be installed and not usable, just a heads up.

Yeah luckily I have PDQ packages built to install or uninstall IE10 and IE11. I just didn't have anything built for IE9.

Did that give you what you needed?

yes and no. It was the exe(s) I needed, but someone on SW sent me the MSUs. I could have extracted MSUs from the exe(s), but it was easier just to get the MSU files.

Well whatever works.

@thecreativeone91 said:

Sounds like either this person does not trust you working on this account they are responsible for. Or they just don't want you at the company.

They aren't responsible for it. They are just one of many techs, including myself, who work on cases for the account. It feels more like they just don't want me here. They are the only person who has a problem with me.

@scottalanmiller said:

@Breffni-Potter said:

I'd love that backlash against vendor focused providers but...Not seeing it happening.

Businesses love and are addicted to what they see as free consulting. The MSP / VAR model is so easy to sell. If you don't understand IT, you would never understand why you would want something else.

This. This times 1000. I'd say a close second is companies who give kickbacks to those who have purchasing power, like the example @scottalanmiller gave me one time where a company sells someone a phone system and gives the people buying the system (or advising to buy it) a week of free training, in Bermuda. Case in point.

@scottalanmiller said:

In theory, you do not get advice from an MSP. Their business models make them function like VARs in that case. The very design of an MSP organization puts them at odds with giving general IT advice.

In theory. Most do.

@scottalanmiller said:

@Breffni-Potter said:

Most organisations already have a product that they need supporting, if I am looking for someone to look after my Cisco network, I'm going to look for the company with the Cisco partnerships and connections.

And to some degree this makes sense. If you want an MSP model, you look for that. If you want broad support and someone that can help you with anything, this is the opposite of what you would do. I never said MSPs were bad, they are very good. But they don't fit every need.

Lots of companies don't want their vendors to be locked in to what their current products are. While that has benefits, it has huge negatives too. Like you will likely have the MSP push you to overspend on Cisco and lock in further and further when doing something else might have saved you a fortune.

This is a huge one. MSPs are limited in their support scope, which often means they are limited in what they will recommend, or even can in good faith. So instead of getting an open opinion on what would be best for your company, you get the best solution company X can offer for your needs. See the difference?