Telecommuting
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TelecommutingI love telecommuting and recommend that everyone give it a shot. The flexible schedule, the lack of a commute, the extra time and ability to work at home, it's wonderful.
But I also warn people that it's not for everyone. It's not a party and the problem I've seen is that I don't always know when to turn things off. I'll admit that it was nice that I didn't have to drive to work on Monday and Tuesday last week when we had issues, but it also wasn't so much fun for my wife and kids while they were waiting on me to fix something.
It's also a little strange when my wife and I are both busy, like we were a few weeks ago, and on Saturday night around 8, we were both working on our computers. On work.
So this article defending telework was interesting and it does bring up the security aspects of people working remotely or part time. After a laptop was stolen, some people blamed telework for the problem. That wasn't the problem, but it's a valid concern. Most people that telework will be moving data across the wire or on a laptop and it needs to be protected.
Telecommuting doesn't have any fundamental issues. It works in some places and not in others. As a DBA, most of the work I've done with SQL Server has almost always been remote. I rarely access a console and almost never physically sit in front of a server to do work. It's just rare I do it with Terminal Services and the remote nature of SQL Server itself. To me this makes it a perfect telecommuting job.
But most of my managers would disagree. They see me as the data guardian, which means I should be there physically to comfort them and work through issues, usually involving people that can't get the data they want or expect on some report. Or the server's slow and my boss needs a cube to stand in front of.
I've been tempted to work for one of the remote DBA firms, but usually dismissed that because I'd likely be stuck in their office working on some other company's server instead of in my PJs in MY office.
It seems that telecommuting was popular for a time, but then it faded a bit. Now with all the data thefts and security issues, I wouldn't be surprised to see it become less likely for more and more companies. I think that's a mistake and companies need to plan for telework, manage it appropriately, and use it to get more done by their employees.
If you want to give it a try, read the article and check out the links for formulating a telework strategy. Write a proposal and see if you can get a trial going. And let us know if you do.
Steve Jones
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I'm not trying to dehumanizing IT but without a doubt more than ever we're working inside a big community. We get help by mean MSDN and other stuff. Newsgroups, articles, samples provided from FTP's, phone calls to old pals, etc... So that I don't get the point why currently so many organizations are reluctant to allow their employees work from home. What kind of fears have they?
Sincerely, I work as DBA and here, only very very few times I get a workaround or solution from my colleagues. Why? They are productive and good professionals but when you are the only one in the department who is researching for new stuff you know that they don't give you clues at all because of they're already busy with its own.
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First of all, the most important data should store in a server at the company or gorvernment agency instead in a laptop. The laptop can only access the data to the server. This is the mistake of the those company. This has nothing to do with telecommuting. This has to do with poor security.
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'Telecommuting' and 'remote support' are actually one and the same. The only minor difference is the duration of time spent on the remote connection. All of this ado about telecommuting and security is balderdash. If there was such a great concern then corporate America would 'yank' all remote support activities <period> However if they did, then it would probably lead to fuller employment in the IT sector, maybe even a shortage of qualified staff. I say this because then corporate America would then have to staff 3 shifts instead of 1 - so much for doing more with less !
By the way, I've had limited telecommuting for the last 8 years and had remote support access for over 15+ years. I even spent 3 hours this last weekend online doing support !
So how about it corporate America - make our lives easier and fuller - staff 24x7 !!!
RegardsRudy KomacsarSenior Database Administrator"Ave Caesar! - Morituri te salutamus."
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Hi, Steve.
I know I have said this before, but it bears repeating:
The extent to which you can telecommute is proportional (more or less) to the extent to which you can be outstourced.
People should keep that in mind. It pays, in the long run, to be indispensable on a face-to-face basis.
Cheers.
G. Milner
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I wouldn't say that G.M., except for average employees. There is something to be said for having a stake in the company as a direct employee. I believe that the more successful companies in the future are the ones that recognize this and don't outsource/offshore critical business functions including, but not limited to, IT.
[font="Tahoma"]Bryant E. Byrd, BSSE MCDBA MCAD[/font]
Business Intelligence Administrator
MSBI Administration Blog
TelecommutingViewing 6 posts - 1 through 5 (of 5 total)
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