Experimenting with Cisco VPN

We just implemented the VPN functionality on our Cisco 5510 firewall. We have been using the firewall for about six months and love it! We are now testing some of the features. I'll have more feedback after our team tests it.

The Devil is in the details

We have been using, or I should say struggling, with Trackit helpdesk and asset management software. I can not depend on accurate reports so it's time to find a new product.
As I looked at all the products on the market for this segment, I started thinking about the idea about minimizing the number of vendors that we use. We have standardized on (1) Dell for PC's, servers, laptops and PDA's (Well, they just killed thier PDA line.) and switches (2) Cisco for firewalls and VOIP and (3) Symantec for AV and SPAM protection. I want to maximize or leverage my relationaships with a limited set of vendors. This idea brought me to Altirls since they were just purchased by Symantec.
My service tech's are in the process of testing the demo version of the software to see if it fits for our network environment which is about 130 PC's, 16 servers, and 25 laptops and MAC's (more MAC's every month). I want a product that I can depend on and not have to "work" to get accurate information. I want the details...now.

Mission accomplished..........this year.

We recently added the last 500 GB SATA drives into our Promise Technology chassis called "DataWarehouse". I feel like this is a milestone acomplishment but in the back of my mind I know it wouldn't last long.
We now have 15 500gb drives as one dynamic volume on a W2K3 server. It's about 6 TB's of storage. One drive is a hot spare, the other drives are one RAID5 volume. It is working well now but it was a challenge to get it working properly. We primarly use the server for disk backups and worship video storage. I'm already looking for more storage for next year; 10 to 15TB's minimum.

A passion for excellence

One of my passions is providing THE best IT service to our staff. I think, at times, we can be dulled into thinking that our service is "good enough" and move on to other important projects. I'm finding that improving your service requires drastically improving communications within my team. I mean an order of magnitude of improvement. I need to be deliberate in pushing for the ultimate goal...striving for excellence in IT Service.

New campus...coming soon.

We have been planning for our Gilbert Campus for years. Well, the work work is about to start very soon. We have just selected our cabling vendor and phone equipment. We will be installing a Cisco VOIP system with 123 phones. We will have four buildings connected by 24 strands of multi-mode fiber cabling. We have lots of new technology to implement. I know project management will be crucial in the months ahead. IT managers must be excellent project managers and communicators these days. It's interesting how our jobs change over time.

In search of ITIL

I have begun the search for new Service Desk and asset management software based on ITIL. It is a daunting task. There are so many products to review. How do you find the right product that fits our department? I have been reading a lot about "best practices" for IT Service Management. There are two top standards, ITIL and COBIT. Both of these standards come from Europe. I think it is our duty and IT managers to constantly improve our IT service for the staff. We always need to review and improve our processes so our staff can concentrate on doing ministry and not have to worry or get disrupted by technology issues. More to come about my new quest.

Hello world!

This is my blog kickoff! It's about time for me to start talking, maybe venting, about all the technology we are implementing at Central.