Workload unreasonable?

[anything I don't mind]

Am i being unreasonable?

I support 3 sites at third line level 2x 100 user and a smaller site of 20 users. Ive got loads of work on my plate at the moment and i don't get much help with the work. There is someone else who works with me in third line but he does not do that much work.

Now one of my many bosses wants to send me to poole to look at some some desktop performance for a client and i've told them that there is nothing that i will be able to do to fix the problem as it needs new hardware. they are using windows xp as thin client on p4 512mb ram desktops and citrix receiver with xenapp. They have mcafee installed on the xp machines and citrix and the xp machines are on the domain. One of my bosses thinks that removing mcafee and taking them off the domain will speed the pc up. I told him that is a waste of time and i don't have the time to uninstall mcafee or whatever he thinks will fix the problem.

But they just went a head and booked a ticket to poole from waterloo for 8am, it takes me 1 hour and half to even get to waterloo from where i live so ill have to wake up at like 5:30 to catch the train.

Do you think this unreasonable and would you tolerate this?

 

[bitslice]

Personally I love it when management get deeply involved at a technical level.

 

[anything I don't mind]

deeply involved? lol

Its more like he does not what he is doing and is wasting my time sort of involvement. It was their bad choices that created that situation in the first place by implementing a bad solution. Just because i did an ok job implementing desktops at the clients i am based at and support, now they think I should be able to fix that mess. But its more just sending me to poole when i have a full time job that i have a problem with. Its not like anyone is going to do any of my work while i am away.

 

[EGuitarStar]

You need to give him facts as to why what he says will make no difference.

Furthermore, why cannot you do this remotely?

 

[pitchfork]

Just do it and claim for any expenses and traveling hours I would.

Then again I take any excuse to get out of the office.

 

[anything I don't mind]

Exactly what i have done. I have told him that it won't make any difference but he insists that him and another support guy took one of the pc off domain and removed mcafee and this made a big difference. I said that i doubt it and that it won't make a difference. I offered to take a look remotely but he said that i won't be able to do it remotely and used the term, we just need another set of eyes on the problem. They booked the tickets while i was saying that i could do it remotely.

 

[bitslice]

not like anyone is going to do any of my work while i am away.

There is a perception that IT is reactive, that you are not needed until something goes wrong. Purely because management don't understand IT is pretty much the opposite.

On topic, do you happen to know how to analyseThe performance of a thin client network?


I suspect this is political, go and show face, make your boss look like he's given this his top priority.

 

[anything I don't mind]

Well i suspect the problem is a result of mcafee and using windows xp as a thin client os. As its not a real thin client os it is not optimised for use of thin client. Ie it is going to be using its own ram etc. I suggested adding more ram to the desktops but he siad that they want to find a solution without the client spending any more money. Looks like they just wasted £15k on a backend solution hoping to have a fast solution and its terrible and now i am meant to go in and fix it. Its a joke and honestly i am considering moving jobs because this is not the first time this sort of non sense happened. Just surround by incompetence people who do not do any actual work.

How many managers does it take to screw in a light bulb?

 

[Pestilence]

Personally, I'd do it. Claim expenses while there and time for the travel, and just come back after very little was improved saying "I warned you beforehand, and it's hardware they need".

Just part of the job, really.

 

[bitslice]

You will actually have to prove it is hardware, and not just a client/OS/RAM/virus/network/server/glitch issue.

Actually, on a thin client, what do they need AV for anyway?

You could always try the "XP is no longer supported" line, MS just dropped the last support update.

 

[anything I don't mind]

I already pointed out that XP is no longer supported but that just went right over his head as if i never even said it. The manager who is actually a project manager and not very technical at all, has the problem where he does not listen. Sort of talks over everyone and just ignores what they are saying.

The thing is i don't have time to sit their proving what is causing their pc to be slow or uninstalling mcafee on 50 pcs. To me its not rocket science, they have slow old crap hardware and probably some poorly implemented xenapp environment. HE actually suggested that i should create windows xp image that they can deploy to all the machines. Its like banging my head against the wall sort of bs.

 

[the_r_sole]

if it's part of your job and you are being instructed by a superior to do it, all you can do is tell them why it's a pointless exercise (in writing) and that it will mean you can't meet other targets because of the timescales.
Then if they still insist you have some comeback when they start booting your chucks for it not making a difference and other work not getting done

 

[rubberduck]

You can't be that busy or you wouldn't have time to be on internet forums writing posts. Also are you being made to commute to Poole for an extended period of time or is it just 1 (or a few days), if its the later just get on with it and stop complaining. Don't like it? Look for a better/different job.

 

[Make]

If you are not a project manager or someone higher up who actually needs to worry about costs/time management, just do what you are told and if it screws up it's up to them to hire someone to fix it or have you fix it.

Remember, if you got too much workload to do in 8 hours by yourself, and you start to get a backlog, it's not your fault. Do your best, the only way they will see that you're overly busy is when things start to go wrong.

 

[Terminal_Boy]

I'm afraid that once management have been visited by The Good Idea Fairy, you have no choice but to go and prove their idea was bobbins.

State your reasons why you think it won't work in writing as it's always nice to have some "I told you this wouldn't work" momentos to dig out for your next performance review.

 

[Housey]

Ah another one of those "All managers are idiots, only us techies know how to do things or have the 'big picture' view", with added "there's a 5:30 in the morning too, really".

SO busy, well unless I need to vent on the internet....

 

[anything I don't mind]

Not all managers just most of them. Incompetent is an understatement.

 

[Housey]

Not all managers just most of them. Incompetent is an understatement.

Yea, I'm sure you'd do a better job, you'd learn em.

 

[anything I don't mind]

Well most of the time I end up having to do their job because they are so incompetent. If i am not making their decisions for them I am cleaning up their bad decisions.

Yes i would do a better job of pretending to do be useful and pretending to do actual work. How difficult could that be?

 

[Housey]

Well most of the time I end up having to do their job because they are so incompetent. If i am not making their decisions for them I am cleaning up their bad decisions.

Yes i would do a better job of pretending to do be useful and pretending to do actual work. How difficult could that be?

All that shows is how naive you are. Now back to work, you told us you had no time.