Last week I was on a mini tour for a partner and as I always try to maximize my time while on the road, I hooked up with a couple of IT Pros who just happen to be user group presidents (and friends). I spent some time with Melvin Hart (Nova Scotia IT Pro User Group) while in Halifax and Mitch Garvis (Montreal IT Pro User group). Besides having some great conversation over meals and coffee, they asked if I could tag along on a client visit or two.  I figured, what the heck - it would be fun to see what their client pains are and how both of them worked as IT Professionals. 

First off was Melvin and his customer who is a reseller of services out of Dartmouth.  We had time to stop in en route to the airport - I was heading out to Montreal later that day. It was a non descript building with an open concept office packed with parts, wire and stacks of paper with 5 or 6 cubicles jammed in. They had been experiencing problems with their custom FoxPro database application that handles their billing systems - Melvin suspects a corrupted index. I was a little shocked to learn that they still used this version of FoxPro (rather outdated) - yet alone running all their systems with Windows 9x connected to an NT4 server with internet connectivity.  Melvin was a superstar, talking with the users, reassuring them that things were ok and that once he had the database files back on his server, he would be able to fix the index.  After we left the customer and headed out to the airport, we talked about the implications of using Win9X with internet connectivity and maintaining an NT 4 server.  He mentioned that he's already been talking to the owner about upgrading the systems, but hasn't got much traction to date. Unfortunately it seems as if computer systems are viewed as a static resource like a telephone system - if it works and isn't broken, why replace/upgrade it? Melvin isn't giving up!!! He's still there to support them when they need help and he's also there to assist them to move to a new platform when they are ready to go. 

The second visit was with Mitch in Montreal where he asked if I could spend some time with him and one of his customers - a charitable organization in downtown Montreal.  They were a bit more up to date technology wise, using Windows 2000/Windows XP and Small Business Server 2003 Premium edition.  After upgrading to SP1 for SBS 2003, they were having some challenges with ISA Server 2004 using the proxy client software. Apparently there is a non trusted domain in their environment for a small pocket of users who requires internet access via the proxy services of ISA.  In case you didn't know, SBS 2003 does not allow you to establish a trust relationship with other domains, so these handful of clients were not working correctly. Once the problem was identified, a brief migration discussion came up and a new plan of action for getting these people integrated into the SBS 2003 domain was struck. There were a few other small issues that were discussed and resolved including time synchronization, alerts in the ISA server log as well as what were the best practices to establish a public internet access wireless network for their "public" boardrooms. It was a great visit and once again it was awesome to see how Mitch works with the customer to put them at ease and keep them informed of all their options.

What did I learn from this experience? It's the IT Pros out there who make the difference by connecting with their customers and listening to what they need and what concerns them. YOU are the public face of technology for your customers / clients and YOU are regarded as the experts and heroes. It is my pleasure to help out IT Pros across Canada as part of my job and connect with them at any and every opportunity.

It was great to see some customers and work alongside a couple of stand up IT Pros in Canada. What about you? What challenges are you facing? What sort of stuff would you like to see in future blog posts or upcoming tours across Canada? Post some comments here and sound off!