What are /r/ITManagers' favorite Products & Services?

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Is the current process supported by the underlying systems? Or the other way round - could your current tooling (ticketing, ERP) support a streamlined process? This is where I´d start. Depending on the industry you are in and assuming standard (back-)office operations, I would not look at establishing yet another role and/or cost-center but rather dedicate a budget to cleaning up, defining a propers process, do a one-time basis inventory (interns?) and reflect the shiny new process either within your current support system landscape or implement something lightweight (and free) like https://glpi-project.org/

Tapping into the above budget should be arguable - waste of resources and inherent risk (software-, hardware lifetime, security/safety) vs. "compliant" posture and capex cuts ;)

We use RequestTracker:

• heavily email oriented, but allows for ticket creation and response via UI.
• highly configurable. If you know Perl, crafting an 'after hours' response Scrip is pretty easy.
• It has a FAQ manager (which I've never used)
• reporting exists via TicketQL, and the DB itself is easy enough to fathom for more complicated things in raw SQL.
• open source, free.
• mobile browser theme (though I usually just request desktop site)
• separated comment vs reply for threading internal discussion with responses directed at customers
• large set of community contributed extensions (ticket tagging, commands over email, customer groupings, time worked reporting)

Devops is software driven configuration. Rather than manually touching configs you use a software pipeline to configure, manage and orchestrate.

https://about.gitlab.com/resources/scaling-enterprise-devops/

Pick up some ansible and gitlab.

Those "I have one tool in my toolbox" approaches are always a red-flag, Segment went from a Microservices architecture to a Monolith to fix a lot of their problems. Like agile, I find microservice design to be used as a crutch to try to fix project management and business systemic issues without actually having to address them.

Ultimately, how we design systems has their pros and cons, and they have different applications depending on your needs, if you choose your approach first and don't try to analyze your problem space adequately you're likely just wasting time and money.

If you have someone coming in telling you to use one of these design patterns without asking questions first, show them the door.

"The Phoenix Project" by Gene Kim & others is also useful, though because it tries to tell a story throughout sometimes it is more difficult to get folks to understand the takeaways.

"The Mythical Man-Month" by Fred Brooks has a few solid observations on IT planning, though from a very different era.

(For future thread readers, all my recommendations are IT/tech management specific books.)

USB does not give enough power to keep anything warm. Even the Mr Coffee brand 110v is a joke. This one is the one I found that would keep a cup warm all day AND reheat it from room temp.

How to Win Friends and Influence People: Updated for the Next Generation of Leaders - Dale Carnegie. Technically it's his estate but his books and philosophies have been helping people build their careers since 1938. This book is the latest but I can't speak to it but if it's anything like the previous version it will be a goldmine of information.

idk if anyone has suggested The Ideal Team Player it's a management book in a story/parable format, it's a bit cheesy but I think its an honest outline on what it takes to be a good colleague.

If you feel bad firing him, get this book, read it, have him read it, put him on a PIP and do a book club with him where you force him to think about how to change his behavior based on what this book recommends.

The First 90 Days: Proven Strategies for Getting Up to Speed Faster and Smarter

The Manager's Path: A Guide for Tech Leaders Navigating Growth and Change

Glad you think you'll find it useful. Can't tell you how many jousting matches I've had to get into to learn some of this stuff.

Just remember the key that picks all lock for you is knowing how the business makes it's money. Pickup a copy of this book and just read the first few chapters, the rest of it goes into database modelling, then give the phoenix project a listen (basically they lay out how an IT department needs to run like a manufacturing plant, and god do they use a lot of words to describe that so pick it up in audiobook format.)

Pretty much if your job as an IT manager is to walk around and get into trouble, and if they fire you problems won't show up for half a decade, you're doing your job right =-).

Start with this: IT Managers Handbook

Continue learning with this: Digital Trailblazer

Look at this books:

CIO Wisdom

CIO Playbook

Read this: The First 90 Days

It is a great guide and should give you some perspective. My biggest takeaway? Don't go in guns blazing trying to impress everyone.

Read how to win friends and influence people. The most important book i've ever read.

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https://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-Influence-People/dp/B0006IU7JK/ref=sr\_1\_1?gclid=Cj0KCQjwhLKUBhDiARIsAMaTLnEqP9HKyVRf2gXyBT2q5nOi5aqMiMaZd\_eGMWmAhxXSHbBpKsr5desaApTtEALw\_wcB&hvadid=267869286942&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9031553&hv...

Seconding Azure, and adding that NFPs are also potentially eligible for quite generous Azure credits. More than enough to run some modest Azure Automations.

Check out Azure Power Apps and Logic Apps. They're pretty powerful. Their usual pricing is in the slightly silly "enterprise automation" bracket but if you qualify for NFP credits then they'd be a great solution.

For something much cheaper, check out the very cool open source project n8n. Cheap cloud hosted options, full self-hosted, and extensible via JavaScript if it doesn't cover your use-case.

Thanks, some really good info in these links. I particularly like the Service Catalogue hierarchy slide here https://www.slideshare.net/mobile/AxiosSystems/fy12-lead-nurturescv2 it's a great way of breaking it out into categories

I didn't see this one listed, yet I think it's the first book every new manager should read: The One Minute Manager. Simple, basic, and yet very powerful.

After that, I'd pick up a book on project management principles, since that's what you're going to be doing the most of in your new position.

I've worked in both Cloud and On-prem, both work for this.

First, I guess Atlassian calls it Service Management now: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/service-management/features/service-desk

Second, I've found two ways to gather more required info in the middle of a ticket's life (aka not at the beginning). The first is subtle, basically putting in a condition check to see if the field is still blank or has a value. If the field is still empty, Jira will not allow the workflow step to happen. The second method is to create a new screen, just with that field, make it required in the field config and put that screen only in the workflow step you need it for.

DM me if you run into any trouble. I also highly advise you to install a scripting utility, like ScriptRunner, where you can code more complicated workflow solutions, or always-on behaviors, that Jira cannot do by default.

SharePoint. I have a IT site created and we keep everything there. PR's, notes, knowledge base, network documentation, Visio diagrams, contact information, etc. On top of that we use SharePlus (Android Marketplace Link) for quick remote access.

We also use the calendaring functions in SP to coordinate outages, upgrades, key events and vacations.

Have you tried www.freshdesk.com? It ticks your requirements: Auto help, email response based on time of day/week/year. ie if you email after hours your responses if different than responses during hours: You can set your SLA's Mostly email in: Ticketing linked to your email. Just on your network? Over the internet? From an app on their phone? Onsite mostly... senior members would like mobile support for reviewing tickets: The app makes it on the go! Chat: Thats available too! Freshdesk has revamped their reporting too! https://freshdesk.com/helpdesk-features

Do you have a budget? Have them get a cert/ a few certs to start off with. Or also, take some IT courses offered thru the MIT open Univ ( or other free college classes/ courses, to include https://www.cybrary.it/ )

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Or too, buy them a book / some books ( to include Kindle stuff ); and then have your 2 and 3 yr staff take turns teaching them topics; reviewing with them policies and other important corp stuff.

You might also have a look at Domotz network monitoring system for this. It'll gather all devices and systems on the network automatically and created an automated network topology map for you as well. A lot of our service providers use this for initial network assessment to price things appropriately and you can easily move the agent to new networks for onboarding as needed, though we do hope you'll keep it running. In full discretion I'm the community manager at Domotz. Happy to answer any questions if you need.

https://www.pdq.com/pdq-deploy/ and https://www.pdq.com/pdq-inventory/ in my opinion cannot be beaten for the price and will do everything you want and more for $1k/admin/year. If you don't have something in place already it is also easy enough to do a full poc in their 14 day trial and really blow away any audience.

please check https://snipeitapp.com/ If you can manage, there is a self hosted free version and if you dont want to manage it on your own, there is a hoated version as well. You can add assets by categories, add location, AD sync, chdckin/checkout to user, mail notification before expiry, can be used for users ti request assets via portal etc.

Kanban is best to visualise the workload, assign priorities and measure the speed of your team. see https://zapier.com/learn/project-management/kanban-board/

I use this backpack:

Sterkmann Expandable Carry on Backpack for men Overnight Weekender for Travel & Business Waterproof Fits 15" Laptop With Packing Cube, Shoe Pouch & Laundry Bag (20L-30L Capacity, 3 lbs) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JQZ9KC5/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_08EEM03NT3NFZYKYEDR5?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

I change and go running on my lunch break, so I bring running shoes and workout clothes to the office daily. The clothing compartment is isolated from the tech part, so my laptop doesn’t smell funky.

I’ve used it on overnight trips. There is a zipper to expand it and squeeze a little more in. If you don’t pack shoes you can fit a change of clothes in there comfortably. Two days would be pretty tight. Depends on how space efficient you are. Personally for a two or more day trip I’d bring the backpack with essentials and a small roller bag.

I’ve had the backpack for 2 years now and it has held up. The build quality is decent for the price point, but it has a synthetic feel. Definitely looks professional. My biggest gripe is the water bottle holders are small. You can fit a small plastic bottle of Deer Park in there but larger reusable bottles don’t fit. Also the shoulder straps need to be re-adjusted periodically. Overall I am happy with it and would buy it again.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VZXCQHH

Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win

The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing the Challenges of Extreme Ownership to Lead and Win

I mention these books not because I want to militarize IT, but because decision-making skills are so painfully lacking among many of the managers I associate with.

Analysis Paralysis.
The never-ending request for more data.
The bone-chilling fear of making a bad decision.

And worse, blame-throwing and finger-pointing when things don't go as hoped/planned.

Make good decisions in a timely manner, and own those decisions and all fallout associated with them.

Agreed with /u/dcoulson and /u/Szeraax. The vision and strategy is going to depend a LOT on where your specific business is at and what its challenges are - both with IT and just in general.

Generally, IT should be a force multiplier for the business, not a black box cost center, but that's the way almost every CFO looks at it in my experience until you can prove otherwise. What are the current challenges your company has with IT? What problems do you want to solve?

Are there knowledge gaps on the IT team? Maybe you need to look at offering career development or certifications in areas where the team is weak. Or maybe you need to create new roles or restructure existing ones.

Do you have a lot of inefficient processes in your business where tech could help streamline with quicker turnarounds and lower cost? Maybe you need to talk to department leaders and ask the 'magic wand' question (i.e. if you could wave a magic wand and fix one problem for them, what would it be?)

Are there regulatory concerns or compliance issues that haven't been addressed? Risk assessments are boring, but an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and can also help you cover your ass.

Does your CFO think IT costs are too high? Maybe they need to see where that spend is going and what they're getting for their money. Highlighting specific areas (support, applications, infrastructure, management) is a good way of illustrating trends and identifying inefficiencies.

If you have a little time on your hands, I'd recommend reading The Phoenix Project. And feel free to reply here or PM me if you want to ask anything specific. I've been a DIT in SMBs for a while and have worked for several CFOs that started off not appreciating IT only to later see the light!

If the environment is Windows-centric, use the Microsoft 365 stack, which supports almost all platforms except Linux:

• SSO: Azure AD (will sync with on-prem AD)
• MDM/MAM: Endpoint Manager (Intune)
• Patch Management: Endpoint Manager (Configuration Manager)
• Remote Access: Always On VPN (configurable through Intune)

If the environment is truly heterogenous, look in to these options:

• SSO: Okta, Duo, OneLogin
• MDM/MAM: Meraki, AirWatch, MobileIron
• Patch Management: Literally tons - Automox, Atera, Datto, Kaseya, Patch Manager Plus...
• Remote Access: Cisco AnyConnect, FortiClient, TunnelBear

This is a very practical book about how people perceive you and how you can build their trust: The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent’s Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over

> Has anyone here ever dealt with a really awkward employee?

Train him.

> I've had a couple of conversations with him

That's not training.

> I can't easily fire him for this, and my intent is to try to help this guy improve, but there are not a lot of guides out there for stuff like this.

Goal Analysis, by Robert F Mager.

Yes, you'd learn it in an MBA program or by being in leadership for a while. You're correct - "how many reports" is asking how many people would report to you. "What does the org look like" is asking about the structure of the organizational hierarchy.

How many reports are pretty easy - there are direct and indirect. "5 direct" means that 5 people report directly to you. "5 direct and 20 indirect" mean that 5 people report to you, and 20 more report to those 5.

The org structure can be a bit trickier. They might draw you a rough org chart, showing where you are and who is directly above and below you. But they may also talk about the structure - flat, hierarchical, matrixed... there are a few different ways to structure people.

So yeah - there are a ton of resources, but I can't really recommend which ones are good or not... never really looked into them.

https://www.amazon.com/Ten-Day-MBA-4th-Step-Step-ebook/dp/B0078XFJQ2

https://www.amazon.com/Winning-Business-Professor-Venture-Capitalist/dp/B01G2W0FUE

Go and search on Amazon for "MBA" - there are thousands of resources.

You need to deal with these folks face-to-face and understand what motivates them then speak to those values and in a way that will lower emotional response, increase intellectual response, and improve commitment. Here's a good book I strongly recommend.

For instance, you could talk to the guy in the ticket above and tell him, "Hey man, it looks like your team could use some wins so upper management sees that your performance is improving. I see that your team has the expertise to do this project best, would you want take this on?"

> Also, do you have any books on how to be a sysadmin? I'm wanting to start become one, but have no idea where to start.

The Practice of System and Network Administration. There appears to be a new edition coming out soon, but I found this one to be very good even though it's 10 years old.

As a part of my bi-yearly review process, I do something called a "Stay Interview" as part of my employee retention approach. I learned the approach from an IT conference I attended, and purchased this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Hello-Stay-Interviews-Goodbye-Talent/dp/1626563470

As a part of this process, I begin by simply telling my people how glad I am to have them on my team, how important they are to the team, and mention something that I think that they do well. I also ask a lot of questions that give me an idea of how to motivate each individual and to make them happy in their work.

In addition to that, I hold a weekly staff meeting where I make sure to mention our accomplishments and things we did well. I find that just telling someone that you appreciate them, and recognizing that they did well goes a very long way.

I also occasionally take the team to lunch, or order in. I allow my people to use their PTO whenever they want or need to, and actually encourage people to take time off. I reward people with off-the-books time off when they've put in extra effort. I also fight hard for raises and additional benefits.

The latest round of Stay Interviews was very encouraging, my people seem happy and well adjusted. I also found a couple of places where I can improve.

Yay, Philosophy! Currently working on my PhD in Philosophy. I have an undergrad in MIS (so a lot of business education), but I've found that philosophy has helped me think critically, organize ideas, write, and communicate much better than my undergrad business experience.

With that being said, I agree that you should take some community college classes in business management, particular accounting and financial management, as that seems to be what you are looking for.

Also, I recommend that you look into change management processes and techniques. A couple easy book recommendations:

http://www.amazon.com/Strategic-Organizational-Change-Michael-Beitler/dp/0972606467/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459783488&sr=8-1&keywords=strategic+organizational+change

http://www.amazon.com/Change-Management-People-Side/dp/193088561X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1459783510&sr=8-1&keywords=change+management+hiatt

As others have mentioned, spending time with people at your company to cross train and learn how your company does things will be invaluable.

That said, I got an MBA. The curriculum where I went had a strong focus on partnering with your business folks. For instance, the finance course had me working with my company's actual financials so that I not only learned the finance concepts in the course, I learned how they applied to my company. That worked out really well for me because I'm a hands on learner and when I can immediately apply new knowledge I'm more likely to retain it.

I've also heard really good things about the book The Personal MBA: Master the Art of Business, though I haven't read it myself.

I found this book just extremely practical when it comes to managing a service desk - it doesn't cover everything, but it is very accessible:

Service Desk Manager's Crash Course

Check out a book called "Why Systems Fail" http://www.amazon.com/Why-New-Systems-Fail-Successful/dp/1435456440/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1433296236&sr=1-1&keywords=why+new+systems+fail It gives a great real world perspective on IT projects and why they fail.