Re: IT time forMaintenance
- From: "Kerry Brown" <kerry@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx*a*m>
- Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2005 08:20:05 -0700
"Trish" <Trish@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:D29D3C72-8C38-41CB-862B-32EC6BC87BB3@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>I ask only for some ideas and guidance in this as I have to start somewhere
> and I have no idea where. The Executive Director has allotted 10 hours for
> this work to be done by1 person and I have no way to argue that other than
> by
> information that I can get from other people that manage networks.
> Yes I know that the management of those networks is a virtual nightmare
> and
> will probably fail. That is why I am asking for information to backup my
> arguement.
>
> "Trish" wrote:
>
>> I have several questions pertaining to maintenance and programs on 2
>> predominantly XP Home networks that exist in 2 physically separate
>> buildings
>> with no servers. As I know that XP Home cannot log in to a domain, the
>> domain
>> that we do have is not used. User groups are set up with no permissions
>> set
>> and all users have Admin accounts. This was not my choice, but came from
>> the
>> Executive Director who has no understanding nor does she want to
>> understand
>> the repercussions of such settings on the computers.
>> 1. How much time should be allotted to do backups on each computer? There
>> are a total of 65 between the 2 physically separate networks. Some
>> computers
>> have CD burning capabilities, some do not.
>> 2. How much time should be allotted to install programs on these
>> computers?
>> 3. How much time should be allotted to provide instruction to employees,
>> clients on the use of these programs i.e. Office and basic computer
>> operation? Keeping in mind that 90% are not computer literate.
>> 4. How much time and how often should be allowed for maintenance.
>> 5. How often should it be preformed?
>> 6. How much time should be allotted for repair and re-installations of
>> programs?
>>
>> The reason that I ask is that I need to be able to document to some
>> extent
>> the time that is normally required for these task per some sort of
>> industry
>> standards.
>> I understand that there are probably no hard answers for these questions
>> but
>> perhaps there is some type of guidance that can be provided.
>>
You'll have to do some research yourself. The links in my last post are a
good starting point for making a case for some kind of network management.
You can download case studies that have cost/benefit analyses.
There are no standard times. Just take the backups for instance. What
software? What speed CDRW drive? How much data needs to be backed up? What
is the CPU? The list goes on and on.
If you only have ten hours you may want to focus on only one part of the
problem and make a business case for that part of the problem only. The
biggest financial gains will probably be backup related. Some things to
consider. How many man hours would be lost if some crucial data was lost or
took a few days to restore? In your current situation it is very likely that
data will be lost. You are relying on each individual to backup their own
data. My experience is that less than 10% will backup their data
consistently let alone make sure the backup actually worked. If each
individual's data is not that crucial then look to a different part of the
problem. Malware/spyware and users installing unauthorised software e.g. P2P
or IM software would probably be next on the list. Both types of software
waste employee time, company resources, and are a major vector for malware
infection if not managed properly. If a network aware virus gets on your
system you would have to shut the whole system down to fix it. How many lost
man hours will this cost?
Kerry
.
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