Work

 When we got word that the long-talked-about remodel of our main floor was to start in two-and-a-half weeks, that started a bit of panic. That means relocating about 40 people, about 95% of which use internal network servers to do their jobs, for an estimated 6-8 months. Ugh.

The downstairs should be safe to use, so the servers themselves can remain as they are and the people working there don't need to move. But there are only about five unused workspaces there. We have a few rooms of space there as well, but it's seriously under-wired for regular use and completely unfurnished. We do have some furniture around from closed external offices, so there's a little something to work with. We were also given some office space to use that's about three miles away, but currently lacks anything but power.

So, yeah, several issues and not much time. Plus no solid vision/leadership.

Trials of the Remote Office

Ideal would be to be able to connect the remote office space to our current network. We talked to Person1 from our ISP (CompanyA which was bought by CompanyB about a year ago). He indicated it shouldn't be too hard to use the existing fiber connection in the remote office to set up a VLAN to the main office, but he was about to be gone for a week and we should talk with Person2. We talk to Person2 and he escalates it up to CompanyB "officially." They come back and say we can't use the existing fiber because it might affect the current customers in the other half of the subdivided building where the remote office is. And they don't accept new fiber customers currently. AND they don't support setting up a VLAN or any other service we might have previously gotten from CompanyA over the years. They even sent us to a competitor for getting internet service at all there. The competitor wasn't any better, saying they don't have fiber there already and a build out to the building would probably take 6-8 weeks and $20,000.

So after losing about a week and a half in calling back and forth and waiting on replies, we're down to seeing if we can even get DSL/cable internet to that office, which would really only make it useful to a few people anyway.

Person1 has returned from his vacation and offers a glimmer of hope that his way can still be done, but it's not a guarantee as he's not in charge since the company buyout and needs to talk to other people... which means another day or two of waiting before we even know what we have to work with there...

... And this afternoon, Person1 comes back after his meeting to say "we should be able to do this after all" and CompanyB will have a tech out in the morning to just what the fiber setup is there at the building. So slightly more hope, but no certainty.

Too Much Stuff, Not Enough Space

Meanwhile, we're busting out asses trying to make good use of what we have downstairs. Moving furniture shouldn't be an IT job, but who else is gonna do it? We've roughly set up space for two departments (about 14 people) and reset some old network switches for use. Still, we're not finished with that and there will be a lot of taped-down power and ethernet cables in all likelihood. Then we're told some of the furniture we're using may need to go to the remote office for several management people. May. Not even a certain answer either way.

And management wants to reuse much of the main-floor furniture (which is modular, but a bitch to move) after the remodel. They've also expressed interest in 1) using some of it in the remote office and 2) sending some of it out to get refurbished. What has not come down, however, is any cohesive plan to accomplish any of this, particularly when some of these plans may require the furniture to be moved multiple times and/or exist in two places at once. Moving this stuff will involve hiring SOMEone, and the CEO delegated making calls to my co-tech/supervisor, even if that didn't include the power to make decisions about it. So he's got a couple quotes, though getting people familiar with the furniture means a crew driving several hours, their food and lodging, and pay for the time, so it won't be cheap whatever happens with it.

And, while trying to cram so many people into places that weren't designed for them, there's also this whole pandemic thing going on. We want to maintain 6 foot spacing between workspaces, but I don't see how that's practical. We're also looking at being maybe 15 spots short for people if we can't get the other office functional, and possibly overly close at that.

Oh Yeah

And if that we're enough, we're in the final weeks of one project (changes to the web site and systems for one department) and kicking off major setup for another (system changes for two departments), which is eating up time and brainpower.

Ironically, if the system changes that just started were actually finished, that would move maybe a dozen people over to a system that is externally hosted and could thus be accessed remotely without issue. But that isn't anywhere close to done at this point, naturally.

Overall, I feel pretty hamstrung, unable to effectively work toward a goal because we don't know what we have to work with. I kind of hate the situation, though I'm not sure who to blame for any of it. I think some individuals have unrealistic expectations, certainly. After a week or so of panic, I've become a little more blase about it - acceptance of how screwed up some things are and that we simple won't be out of the buliding March first, that's just not happening. It's still stressful, though, interfering some with sleep and making me feel like I'm not paid enough to be handling all this...