Being a slacker..
Date: Friday, the 18th of July 2008. Location: OGD HQ (Delft, The Netherlands).
'So, we reached the conclusion that you've been slacking', Sander tells me. I ponder upon this for a moment, and then fully agree with him. After another moment of cogitation, I tell him that I will be writing a few posts this very weekend. I'm not lying, as I'd been considering a new article for a few days now.
And there we are. A few days later, I'm blogging once again . Let the world rejoice. However, before I write my new article, I feel it's time to give the nice people on DirTeam some insight in the past months and the events that took place in them.
Busy, busy..
As my last post stated, June was a particularly busy month. After about half a year of preparation, the big weekend of migration had come upon us at my present customer. Despite all the preparation, there seemed to be no end to the amount of skeletons that came out of the closet after that weekend. Not surprising, really, considering the state that the old infrastructure was in; three AD forests, all managed throughout the years with different methods. Two Exchange-environment and one Lotus Notes for e-mail and calendaring. A bucket full of applications, data, and everything else that you could imagine. Locations that still used 10 Mbit hubs (yes, hubs), causing the auto-discovery on the new thin clients to fail. It took several weeks to smooth everything out and to deal with all the skeletons. Some of those are still haunting the servicedesk, but they deal with it well and the organization is beginning to appreciate the speed and stability that the new infrastructure offers.
For me, it were several weeks of dealing with a panicing servicedesk, confused users and suppliers. However, that is behind me now and it's time to withdraw myself from the organisation bit by bit.
.. and a change!
In the meantime, an opportunity has stumbled upon my path which I have gladly taken! I am pleased to announce that I shall be changing jobs per the 1st of September. As of that date, I shall be working as an information analist and projectleader for the GGZ in Eindhoven (where I live). The GGZ provides mental healthcare services to this region. With ca. 1500 employees and 15.000 clients, it's an environment with plenty of challenges. The fact that I can cycle to work in 15 minutes is also a very big bonus, of course. With many projects on healthcare/ICT level looming around the corner, I am confident that I shall find plenty of satisfaction in this new position. After nearly 10 years of consultancy and travelling, it's time to 'settle down'. More time for music, a wonderful environment (the GGZ is situated in what can most accurately be described as a large park), friendly people and challenging projects; as you may imagine, I am looking forward to it! And yes, more time to blog as well..
Concluding
It's most definitely true that I've been slacking lately. Therefore, I shall be writing a new article later today (time to shower, mow the lawn and paint the banister first) on risks in projects and their financial consequences. For now, consider this post to be my contribution for June. ;)