George, IT Infastructure Analyst
My Role
I report into the Infrastructure Manager and look after all the Windows Based Servers and VMWare Machines in-house. I am involved in implementing new servers and applications the business needs and advising on new technologies to suit the needs and demands of the company. I maintain our current Servers, and fix any issues that crop up. More recently I’ve been part of a new Business Intelligence Application, advising and working with the Project Manager. I’m also Second Line support for any issues which may crop up that the Support Team escalate to me. Apart from Support, Infrastructure is the department that gets the biggest overview of what’s going on IT wise in the company. We see the new things coming in, the existing systems being upgraded and any problems being solved.
Development
I joined Blacks 3 years ago in IT Support, supporting looking after users and fixing any issues they encountered. I came from a company which didn’t really use Windows Servers so I’ve basically picked up everything Server based from experiences and training Blacks have provided for me. I’ve been on 3 Microsoft courses and taken exams as well.
From Support, I was then promoted into the Infrastructure team, and given more Server based responsibilities and other applications such as VMWare, NAS devices and SAN’s.
What do I like
Working at Blacks tends to present you with different challenges every week. The Business is a very fast paced one and things can change pretty quick. I can be working on one project and then priorities change, or something may crop up that requires you to drop everything and focus on that. The IT department is pretty flexible as well and if you see something you fancy getting involved in or can contribute to, you can usually do it. It can be a great chance to pick up new responsibilities that you wouldn’t normally get to in other companies. The people who work here are always willing to help you and even the Managers are approachable (well most of them anyway!), there are no hierarchies.
The rewards
Due to the structure of the company, you get to work with all areas of the business. The best thing about my role is I get to see all the users and the Business taking advantage of and embracing the project I’ve just finished. The latest one being a Voicemail system that all the stores use to receive messages from their Area Manager and Regional Director. It sounds like a pretty simple thing, but when people are using it and you can see it’s making their lives easier, it’s really great.
How Blacks has changed recently
Since the new management came in to the Business, Blacks has become a lot more focussed. IT as a department are being asked for a lot more data and services and it’s good to be always pushing out new facilities that we know will be used. There’s a lot more communication these days and we have the Monthly Briefings with the management where we get to hear about everything that is going on and get to ask questions directly to the CEO. I’ve never worked in a company where you can do that until now.