Open Letter to system administrator, version 2

2 years ago, I’ve posted an open letter to sysadmin in which I whined against the incessant flood of system administrators whose only background was firewall configuration … this might be considered as a follow up.

In the last few weeks, I’ve seen the extent of the ignorance of some consultant/sysadmin. Lets start with one example:

On MLUG, I’ve had trouble convincing peoples that RAID arrays are not “backup system” - they are the representation of an high-availability/high-reliability solution for information system. I’ve receive couple of private email on the subject saying that I was wrong and that I should read some more on the system, that they were good backup tech. Ouch!

I really don’t know what to say… this is just too wrong. Lets be honest, I’m in fright that, one day, they’ll be called as experts in court proceeding. This sentence really is tainted by my interest in law, but still… If you are a consultant / intend to be one, please, heed my words.

Being a computer consultant is a job full of interesting challenges, and the pay is great (especially in Montreal where the cost of living is so low) but your name is the one thing you must protect at all cost… I’ve been able, in the last 5 years (taking exception for 1 year working @ SFL) to easily get contracts, without ever doing any promotional work. Currently there is so much demand that, even me - selling “myself”, I had to take a partner (which I’m very interested to be working with). So: Please, think before you post something on a public forum / email another consultant … I’m nice enough not to place names, but others might not..

Btw - If you are searching for a job in the domain, you can get in touch with me. I can give you a couple names that are in need… but be ready for a harsh response if you fail to answer some basic question before I refer you…

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