Group Efforts 21

Group Efforts
The Diary of a Workgroup Manager

Episode 62 (1999)

Joan picks a fight, our hero picks a winner, Group IT pick their department and Llewellyn picks up a penguin.

Thursday 5th
Summertime, and the living is hot, bothered and hectic. Half my team are on holiday, temps are still banned, and Isleworth A has major problems. Normally I'd delegate these to Cathy, who views management-role opportunities like a hungry lion does a wounded antelope. However she seems to have lost interest in the wake of me not getting the MD's job (and she, therefore, not getting mine), so I'm sorting it out myself. The only light relief is the rumour that Llewellyn's Linux-powered Intraweb server, forgotten in the chaos of Brison's departure, has now been spotted by Group IT. Andy, ever the optimist, thinks Linux could be the Prince of Darkness's Waterloo. I, more realistically, think that being caught using the wrong platform is unlikely to unseat the Great Wriggler, and put a fiver on him escaping scot-free.

Wednesday 11th
If there's a more terrifying sight than Rose and Joan Davies, angry and approaching my office, then I don't know what it is. Their complaint concerns our departmental server, which - again - has started spontaneously logging them out. They blame NetWare, but it's increasingly obvious that the real problem lies with our NetWare contractors, the newly-reinstated B2s, who simply aren't as good as Broadleys' people. This is very awkward, as the B2s are old comrades, so I consult Amrat on an informal basis. He says the lawsuit settlement makes them untouchable, a fact with which they're taunting Llewellyn at every opportunity. That's some consolation, but doesn't help with Isleworth A, which is now approaching Red Alert status. Amrat says he'll have a word, but I fear that something more drastic may be needed.

Monday 16th
The Linux business has turned out far worse than we'd expected. It seems that, while Group IT were suitably outraged at the use of an unauthorised OS, Chapman stepped in and told them to compare its performance and uptime with those of NetWare and NT, then think again about who was running the 'wrong' code. As a result the Intraweb server is staying, an official Linux pilot is planned, and Llewellyn is claiming full credit while sporting a Penguin badge rumoured to have been literally ripped from the lapel of a visiting consumables rep. Amrat, meanwhile, is getting nowhere in his attempts to gain recognition for having installed Linux in the first place, a not entirely unjust situation given that he was denying all knowledge of it last week. The Wriggler is free once more, but I am, at least, a fiver richer.

Tuesday 17th
The management meeting, and I'm steeling myself to bring up the subject of the B2s NetWare maintenance. To my surprise I don't have to, as Dave Tyson beats me to it, followed quickly by Kay Bridges, Trevor Smith and even Andy. The general feeling is that six months of trouble-free networking courtesy of Broadleys' contractors have proved that it doesn't have to be this bad, and that, old friends though the B2s may be, they've either got to shape up or ship out. Llewellyn rather gleefully says that he'll deal with them, but is entertainingly countermanded by Costello, who says that tact is required and that he'll do it. Afterwards we agree that a tip-off is in order, so Andy heads off to find Bob. It's tough, but Isleworth A makes no concessions to sentiment.

Thursday 26th
The month's nearly over, the whole team is back, and my own holiday beckons. Cathy's perked up at the prospect of occupying my chair for a fortnight, Rose has returned with sombreros all round (again), and Danny's returned with an extreme suntan that has, for some reason, earned him the nickname 'Nature Boy'. Even Isleworth A is now under control, helped by reduced network downtime following a two-hour meeting between Costello and the B2s. I'm enjoying the prospect of a worry-free vacances when a decidedly worried-looking Amrat and Cathy emerge from their latest liason meeting. Apparently the department earmarked for the Linux pilot is the one with the firm's premier record in IT innovation. That, of course, means us, which in turn means an eventful autumn. For now though, I just lean back and think of the beach.