Holidays - unfair or is it me?!

[mrforgetful]

We've got to take our holidays in the school holidays.

 

As such, when we have our Internet upgraded and a new firewall installed I'm having it done during school time so there'll be a day with no/very interrupted Internet access.

 

IMO if they make you have holidays at certain times then they have to accept that at other times when work has to be done and it will be disruptive.

[GrumbleDook]

GrumbleDook what size of establishment do you work in? 6 people? sounds huge!

 

1300 students, 160+ staff

 

450+ desktops (including XP, Macs and thin client)

250+ student leased laptops

50+ classroom laptops

100+ staff laptops

 

Remote access for staff via Terminal Services ... soon to be available to staff and students (via Secure Global Desktop thanks to Andy & co at The Cutter Project)

 

11 physical servers, 4 on VMware

 

Coverage from 8am to 5pm

 

We cover all AV kit to where required

 

Remember that I don't do support ... I am a meeting victim ... a hunter of donuts ...

 

If I had hair I would be the PHB (but with some intelligence ... maybe only a bit, but at least it would be some!)

 

I am Manglement!!! (apart from the last 2 weekends when I have been in doing upgrades on SIMS or deploying our new music suite!)

[pinemarten]

maybe it would be better to restrict (ban?) teaching staff from wandering in randomly and expecting the network to be up and manned and fully functional during their ....what was it called again?........HOLIDAYS!!!

can't understand myself why they count the days to the end of term , then after 2 weeks or so of holiday they get bored and decide to come in (usually in shorts, ugh) and start rummaging around in cupboards etc....

 

you can't have it both ways, as someone said - people NEED holidays sometime, if you tie them in to school breaks, then you have to expect limited/no support at those times.

 

but of course it's a bit like most other aspects of this job (i.e. pay/conditions/responsibilities), - it is wide open to interpretation from one school to another ,with no universal ruling to be applied!

[GrumbleDook]

We publish downtime a few weeks before the holidays if we can. We always try to have some downtime planned to allow for patch management or other things that may occur at the last minute.

 

Staff have had to get used to this and it also makes life easier for the Site Supervisors ... they tend to plan their work for the same day so that if they need to keep staff out of school on a particular day we can do.

 

It doesn't always work ... the last minute revision sessions that need 'Net access ... software given to the team 2 days before the break (we have a 1 week rule in our SLA but sometimes we have to bend this ... usually for something happening the first day back!) .. that sort of thing.

[tech_guy]

then after 2 weeks or so of holiday they get bored and decide to come in (usually in shorts, ugh)

 

LOL sounds like my school - or they come in wearing a t-shirt with something really crap on it like 'Sex Appeal - please give generously' - and we techies all collectively think 'yeah right - in your dreams ferret-face...'