Trust me, if i could i would. I still have a few windows based apps i have to use for the office. Crystal reports and SSMS and Cisco jabber ( for softphone/voip ) are the 3 main ones that i cant get out of using.
My main app i support, while is windows on the back end, the front end is now html5. But any automation i want to do, is powershell on windows servers. Sure i can RDP for that, but not the other apps i need. They wont install them on VDI either. Nothing 'special' will go on them.
Fri Jun 04 2021 07:37:13 PM EDT from IGnatius T FoobarSwitch the machine to Linux and you'll never have a license error again.
Can you ask THEM to do it for you?
"Hey, I've got this problem, and I think you can probably fix it for me..."
Fri Jun 04 2021 14:05:57 EDT from Nurb432ya, but i'm not in the teams that do that sort of support, or the license people, ( they are a separate team ) so i dont want to piss anyone off.
People here are VERY protective of their silos.
Fri Jun 04 2021 12:22:06 PM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsAn Enterprise key that disables for a hardware change? There *has* to be a way to take care of that. I don't know that I ever encountered that in my career - but if I had... I absolutely would be calling my Microsoft Enterprise licensing rep and first being very polite about, "how are we going to fix this?" and then raising holy hell if I ran into any resistance.
A big part of being a Microsoft shop is learning how to navigate Microsoft's licensing labyrinth and spending lots of time on the phone with the right people doing things that shouldn't be part of your job.
You are running a VM we cant support you. ( as dumb as that sounds, its their answer )
Fri Jun 04 2021 08:52:16 PM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsCan you ask THEM to do it for you?
"Hey, I've got this problem, and I think you can probably fix it for me..."
Everything about your job sounds like IT Engineering Hell.
Fri Jun 04 2021 21:47:33 EDT from Nurb432You are running a VM we cant support you. ( as dumb as that sounds, its their answer )
Fri Jun 04 2021 08:52:16 PM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsCan you ask THEM to do it for you?
"Hey, I've got this problem, and I think you can probably fix it for me..."
Its a lot worse than it sounds :)
Sat Jun 05 2021 01:15:40 AM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsEverything about your job sounds like IT Engineering Hell.
My wife keeps telling me I should get into technology sales. I've got the background in both to do it - and maybe that will get me away from this shit while still bringing in a decent salary.
Sat Jun 05 2021 08:04:06 EDT from Nurb432Its a lot worse than it sounds :)
Sat Jun 05 2021 01:15:40 AM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsEverything about your job sounds like IT Engineering Hell.
I actually thought of that a few times over the decades, or even be a TAM sort of thing, but i dont like people enough to do it. It would wear me out.
I'm good with people. I just don't have the networking in that segment of the industry to make it happen, anymore.
If I buckled down and found a "real" job - I could make easily 35 grand more a year than I make now at least - probably double or more... but... right now, I have a lot of leeway in all aspects of my job.
Sat Jun 05 2021 10:03:45 EDT from Nurb432I actually thought of that a few times over the decades, or even be a TAM sort of thing, but i dont like people enough to do it. It would wear me out.
Ya i could also move back out into private, and nearly double, but after being here 20 years, it would be a huge cultural change. Plus until recently it did have perks, such as stability and fairly decent benefits. Lately, stability is becoming less as people are being booted out purely on personal reasons " manager x just does not like person y, so they are gone ".
Tho, my current manager is thinking of retiring next fall. Depending on who i end up with ( as i will NOT do it.. even tho the idea was floated a couple of times ) it might make some decisions for me.
So you do public sector IT?
Sun Jun 06 2021 16:25:12 EDT from Nurb432Ya i could also move back out into private, and nearly double, but after being here 20 years, it would be a huge cultural change. Plus until recently it did have perks, such as stability and fairly decent benefits. Lately, stability is becoming less as people are being booted out purely on personal reasons " manager x just does not like person y, so they are gone ".
Tho, my current manager is thinking of retiring next fall. Depending on who i end up with ( as i will NOT do it.. even tho the idea was floated a couple of times ) it might make some decisions for me.
Ya, its why i mention politics and 'agencies' instead of departments. And why each one operates under its own sets of rules, complicating everyone's lives. We are not one cohesive org. Even tho we get funded by the same people and report up to the same person, if you go far enough up the food chain. Its really like 200 different companies that outsource their infrastructure to us. Even tho they have no choice now, and some still hate us for it ( we didnt make that decision to consolidate to save money and in theory become more consistent... not our fault )
We also are not supposed to do IT work for the other 2 branches.. "independent branch" sort of thing.
Oddly, when i first started 20 years ago ( as the automotive market was imploding. I was in automotive basically from getting out of school until then ) it wasn't a lot different from my days at GM and Ford. just more of it. I always thought their politics was f-ed up, with plants doing their own things, managers horribly political, etc. They were amateurs, but a good learning experience.
Mon Jun 07 2021 01:20:51 AM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsSo you do public sector IT?
Sun Jun 06 2021 16:25:12 EDT from Nurb432Ya i could also move back out into private, and nearly double, but after being here 20 years, it would be a huge cultural change. Plus until recently it did have perks, such as stability and fairly decent benefits. Lately, stability is becoming less as people are being booted out purely on personal reasons " manager x just does not like person y, so they are gone ".
Tho, my current manager is thinking of retiring next fall. Depending on who i end up with ( as i will NOT do it.. even tho the idea was floated a couple of times ) it might make some decisions for me.
There is some of this in every large company.
At Intel, I started out with a "Special Ops" team. The conventional wisdom was that if you weren't moving every 2 to 4 years, you were stagnant, and you would get shitcanned. I was coming up on 3 years, there were Involuntary Redeployment Plans going on all throughout the company, my boss had been replaced by a boss who thought I had it in for him (turns out - her)...
So I moved to an organization with a manager I got along well with. And a week after announcing the change, the manager of THAT department was let go and replaced with a manager who disliked me.
It gets better - once I joined that group, he asked me to rack some servers. I went down to do this, and our team had no tools. I couldn't install the bolts to hold the slides that hold the server in the rack. So, I went to my old group and borrowed tools from them.
My boss called me in and told me "you can't borrow tools from your old group." I said, "Then req us tools." His response, "Go to WalMart on your way home and buy the tools you need, bring in the receipts, and Intel will reimburse you."
I ran/owned the requisition server for all of Intel in my last role. It existed just so that you could purchase anything you needed in any role in the company. It was extensive and comprehensive. I told him, "I will not purchase tools on my credit card at a 20% interest rate, to be reimbursed by a Fortune 500 company that has 15 billion dollars in its warchest without interest. Get me a company card if you expect me to purchase equipment to do my job outside of the internal processes of Intel."
I ended up getting a "CAP" - for "performance" on my next review. The first time in 3 years, even with the He/She boss, that I had scored lower than top performer/top quadrant. The next round of layoffs, I was let go, and he assured me it wasn't "performance oriented". He also complained about how every time something went wrong with my kid I was the one who had to respond and asked, "shouldn't your wife be taking care of that?"
No, motherfucker - because my wife is in a higher position than YOU in *her* organization. Where is your wife and kid? He was also an Indian, just for the record.
I hope he choked on a piece of cow that fell into his curry.
Intel started off as a great place to work - but everyone who remained told me to never come back - that it changed dramatically shortly after I left. They all ended up getting laid off... like, every single straight white male IT pro over 40. An Indian friend who still worked there volunteered *himself* to be laid off to save the job of a white guy who he thought didn't deserve the layoff. The Indian guy (who was born and raised in New Jersey,) said, "It is like Little India on every Intel campus - and they're horrible. They can only follow directions, there is no innovation or disagreement with bad ideas."
Mon Jun 07 2021 08:00:06 EDT from Nurb432Ya, its why i mention politics and 'agencies' instead of departments. And why each one operates under its own sets of rules, complicating everyone's lives. We are not one cohesive org. Even tho we get funded by the same people and report up to the same person, if you go far enough up the food chain. Its really like 200 different companies that outsource their infrastructure to us. Even tho they have no choice now, and some still hate us for it ( we didnt make that decision to consolidate to save money and in theory become more consistent... not our fault )
We also are not supposed to do IT work for the other 2 branches.. "independent branch" sort of thing.
Oddly, when i first started 20 years ago ( as the automotive market was imploding. I was in automotive basically from getting out of school until then ) it wasn't a lot different from my days at GM and Ford. just more of it. I always thought their politics was f-ed up, with plants doing their own things, managers horribly political, etc. They were amateurs, but a good learning experience.
Mon Jun 07 2021 01:20:51 AM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsSo you do public sector IT?
Sun Jun 06 2021 16:25:12 EDT from Nurb432Ya i could also move back out into private, and nearly double, but after being here 20 years, it would be a huge cultural change. Plus until recently it did have perks, such as stability and fairly decent benefits. Lately, stability is becoming less as people are being booted out purely on personal reasons " manager x just does not like person y, so they are gone ".
Tho, my current manager is thinking of retiring next fall. Depending on who i end up with ( as i will NOT do it.. even tho the idea was floated a couple of times ) it might make some decisions for me.
I think i found a solution..
My old MSDN account from back when i was still on the dev team is still alive ( back when i did multiple duties ). I pulled down a key for both PRO and Enterprise. With 'multiple activation' . I figured they would have let it expire since i changed teams so long ago.
Soooo in theory one of those 2 should get me back and running once i move it back to its final home. ( just before i go back to office ill move it to my shop laptop.. and leave it there ) Wont risk trying it 2x, as im unsure how many times i can use the code before it tells me to take a flying leap.
AND im not cheating.. its my account, and tied to my current employer.
Fri Jun 04 2021 08:52:16 PM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsCan you ask THEM to do it for you?
"Hey, I've got this problem, and I think you can probably fix it for me..."
I know everything changed with MSDN a few years ago - but this would have been the FIRST thing I would have tried.
Worst case, by the time Microsoft audits your organization, it'll be some other IT employee's problem. :)
Tue Jun 08 2021 15:20:58 EDT from Nurb432I think i found a solution..
My old MSDN account from back when i was still on the dev team is still alive ( back when i did multiple duties ). I pulled down a key for both PRO and Enterprise. With 'multiple activation' . I figured they would have let it expire since i changed teams so long ago.
Soooo in theory one of those 2 should get me back and running once i move it back to its final home. ( just before i go back to office ill move it to my shop laptop.. and leave it there ) Wont risk trying it 2x, as im unsure how many times i can use the code before it tells me to take a flying leap.
AND im not cheating.. its my account, and tied to my current employer.
Fri Jun 04 2021 08:52:16 PM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsCan you ask THEM to do it for you?
"Hey, I've got this problem, and I think you can probably fix it for me..."
I assumed it was gone 10 years ago, so it was the last thing on my mind to be honest. Was going to ask one of our developers if he had an extra.. "wait, i ought to try it anyway"
It does seem to offer fewer resources than it did. but Studio, some servers and Windows 10 were there, and all i cared about was the windows 10 license.
Tue Jun 08 2021 08:44:16 PM EDT from ParanoidDelusionsI know everything changed with MSDN a few years ago - but this would have been the FIRST thing I would have tried.
its weird how i never get hit with the walls in these cases. sorry about that ( again )
Thu Jun 10 2021 07:48:44 PM EDT from IGnatius T Foobar