Be a SPOC but dont be a SPOF

Be a SPOC,but dont be a SPOF

Seth McBeanSchool Aide | FLAGS High SchoolNYC DIIT SPOC Election Day Mini-Summit – 2014/11/04

(Ways to avoid being a Single Point Of Failure)

Be indispensable, but don’t be a tool

Be indispensable, but don’t be a tool

Answer this to yourself:

Why do we need YOU when we have a HelpDesk?

Be indispensable, but don’t be a tool

Tools inevitably become obsolete and are always replaced with better, sharper tools

Be indispensable, but don’t be a tool

Your value as a School Tech is never just about your tech work

Find ways to add value other than running around with cables and disks

Be indispensable, but don’t be a tool

While the HelpDesk is great, it cannot

INTEGRATE

Build systems, not images

Build systems, not images

Your role is to

INTEGRATE

Build systems, not images

NERDVANA:

To have a system that responds even when you are not there

A few words about admin rights...

Admin rights mean granting to users a very God-like capability that inevitably will be used

to transform any workstation into a very special

Snowflake

A few words about admin rights...

It’s not about power, it’s responsibilityWho rebuilds it when it blows up?

What’s the cost of downtime?

A few words about admin rights...

And just like Uncle Ben,a snowflake station is unique, irreplaceable...

and will make you cry when it dies

Build systems, not images

Dont become the sole supporter of snowflakes

Use a software delivery system to fill in the gaps and keep systems uniform and updated

Ex: WSUS, Chocolatey, Munki, AutoPKG, apt-get, PDQ, homebrew, ChromeOS

Build systems, not images

Repeat after me:“The DIIT supported images are

good enough!!”

There are bigger wins than perfecting software images

Get IT out of your head

Get IT out of your head

Show them *AND* tell them

Document how you do EVERYTHING“Here’s how I do it, now you can too!”

Get IT out of your head

Build a shareable Knowledgebase

Evernote Web Clipper is AMAZING for this!

Get IT out of your head

Evernote Web Clipper

My personal, searchable, *shareable*

IT Knowledgebase

Get IT out of your head

Get good at giving directions

Test to failure but don't fail to test

What happens when you’re not around?Use time off to test if your system’s on track

➢ If they’d notice when you're out, you're off track

Test to failure but don't fail to test

Be innovative in TESTBe supportive in PRODUCTION

Build your own "smoke lab" for testing

Become a Director of Focus

Become a Director of Focus

Don't lock them down, build the user’s focus with every device

Tailor the system to fit users instead of forcing users into the system

Become a Director of Focus

If all you build is a better mousetrap, then all you'll hear is squeaking

Busy ≠ productive

Busy ≠ productive

A few words from another Seth...

“I have no doubt the people in this room

are going to succeed, the question is, are

you going to matter?”

Keep in touch

Google+: http://google.com/+SethMcBeanLinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.

com/SethMcBean

Email:seth@sethmcbean.com

seth@flagshs.org