1

Hi all,

I was just hired on at a company that has never had IT person before in-house. They currently use a 3rd party IT company to manage all their stuff. From what HR has told me, the guy who visits a couple times a week to take care of the IT needs is pretty upset.

I’m a young IT person straight out of college, and so my knowledge and experience is still growing.

How can I approach this guy from the 3rd party company to teach me, and also obtain all the network information from him without him feeling threatened that I’m taking his job/control away from him?

5 Spice ups
2

Here is my experience in a similar situation 2 years later. I came on and approached the MSP (Managed Service Provider) like another member of the team. That was the only way i thought it could work for someone who was much more Junior like you and I. You will need them for a while to get a hold of things.

Then what you will need to do in your own head or even a list start to compile what they were doing and if it was done well and properly. Check how they configured permissions to files and other important resources. This will be a dead giveaway if the MSP was clueless. Take the approach you need the least amount of permissions to complete your job.

I found that our MSP would do things the quick way. And took no steps to plan for future growth or migrations. This made it difficult as we started to loose faith in them doing what they were supposed too. If that is the case then you just need to work your way through it.

Approach it as a team effort until they make you change that based on performance.

1 Spice up
3

I think you’re already getting things off to the wrong foot by asking him to ‘teach you’. This guy is handing the keys to the castle to you, and you’re going to ask him to show you how it all works? I would ask him for a list of what programs, hardware, and services he has your company on. You’ll have to do the research into learning how they work, that’s no longer his job. I mean, if he helps you that’s great.

It also helps if you can get a Word doc or PDF with everything he’s done as it’ll give you a roadmap on how to improve things. So I would ask him for documentation and thank him for his work. Be respectful and non-imposing, asking him to help is like I say – a bit too imposing. If someone asked me to teach them things and I was off the job I’d probably laugh.

Also, do keep in mind that even getting documentation is a stress. Many people won’t even do that, nor have they made one. A lot of people are thrust into basically looking at the infrastructure and back peddling themselves. So if you get that you’re off to a solid start.

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Upset in what way? That you were hired? That he has to show up 3 times a week? The answer to this would change how I would deal with the guy.

5

Audit the network and start creating documentation. When you come across something you don’t understand contact the company and have the tech(s) that have been working onsite explain it or provide their documentation for it.

1 Spice up
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I haven’t met him yet, and don’t plan on asking how to “teach me”, but I do want learn from him. Everyone’s gotta start somewhere. Also, he’s not leaving. But I am going to be taking on a lot more of his roles.

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That I was hired.

8

You just have to be aware that at the end of this journey, this support person will be out of a job at your company. You may find resistance to show you the ropes. There is also the possibilities that this person may try to show your bosses how much you don’t know so he can remain in a contact role. I’m not saying that it will happen, just be aware of the possibilities.

9

here’s the thing. your company has decided that instead of paying a fortune to the MSP who is doing site visits 3 times a week, it is more cost effective to hire a junior to learn the role and support them in-house.

so of course the guy is “upset”. don’t expect him to gladly teach you anything. while I can certainly understand your keenness to “learn from a pro” this guy isn’t going to do that, because what is in it for him? nothing.

so, ask for documentation for everything. for documentation that doesn’t exist, spend time documenting that. do a network audit, use SW. and document

then, every time you come across something you aren’t sure on (which will be a lot if not all BTW), make a list and ensure you ASK. this way, you achieve 2 things

  1. you get exact answers about the environment you are working in

  2. you can further learn about the exact environment, which will help your career in the future.

and don’t be afraid to ask questions, there is no such thing as a silly question.

but if you take this approach, you will get answers rather than just “show me everything” because stuff will get missed out, and as I stated this guy wont be in a hurry to be your friend or help you. that is the nature of the beast

1 Spice up
10

Honestly, your company and the manager of the relationship with the MSP should be handling the communication on this and setting expectations with the MSP. Training a replacement or a replacement of some duties is not in a typical retainer scope. If your company wants him/them to train you, they should discuss that with the MSP and hire them to do it with a pretty clear scope and timetable.

If expectations and terms are set, then you should be able to show up and be willing, eager, friendly and professional, and hope the MSP guy can do the same.

Lots of unknowns here though, is the MSP being retained on a smaller scope? If so it should be amicable.

11

It is always better not to asking to teach you but ask him for a knowledge transfer. So that you can sit with him and understand how things work and then slowly takeover.