In this issue
Managing Teams without Intune? A degree in Botany might help. Filtering minds. IT and true love. Some advice for the young. Need to run a mail server? One boob tube to rule them all. Plus lots more — read it all, read it here on WServerNews!
Will graduating from university help you stand out from the crowd when it comes to finding your dream IT job? Photo by Good Free Photos on Unsplash
Ask Our Readers: Managing Teams without Intune? (clarification)
Two issues ago Michael Friedman who works in IT in Massachusetts sent us the following email asking for input from our readers:
Can you discuss the Management of Microsoft Teams on Mobile Device Management Platforms? Microsoft is not letting vendors like Blackberry have access to the API/SDK, and seem to want to become a Mobile Device Management Platform too. You can only control Teams with Microsoft Intune. They previously did allow access to Skype for Business for MDM Vendors, like Blackberry with their Blackberry Dynamics Platform (Blackberry Connect). It seems they want their Microsoft Endpoint Management Platform to be the primary Mobile Device Management Platform, potentially edging out Vendors with more experience and security in this area.
I thought this was the Nice Microsoft that got along with everyone, and allows Linux OS distros in its Azure Platform. Is the Big Bad Wolf Back, and is he picking another fight, Using its Massive M365 platform to kill off more competition Now? Is this the 800 pound Gorilla nobody wants to address? Can we get a comment from Novell and Word Perfect? Does that Mean Windows Phone and Zune will make a comeback now?
Can you discuss with the other readers how they are handling this?
We published several responses from readers in our last issue but they missed what he was getting at, so Michael sent us the following clarification of what he was asking for help on:
I was more interested on how end users were dealing with managing Microsoft Teams on Mobile Devices, and not so much the Microsoft Monopoly issue.
So for those of you readers who manage Microsoft Teams on mobile devices in your organization, how exactly do you do it? Email us your suggestions.
Got questions? Ask our readers!
WServerNews goes out bimonthly to almost 200,000 IT pro subscribers worldwide! That’s a lot of expertise to tap into. Do you need help with some technical problem or are looking for expert advice on something IT-related? You can Ask Our Readers for help by emailing us your problem or question. Do it today!
Editor’s Corner
Should young people go into IT today? What’s the job market like out there? How is the job of doing IT evolving? Is there any value in getting a university degree if you want to build an IT career? These are tough questions but they’re important ones, especially for those who are starting out in our profession. Whether you’re in high school and love messing around with Raspberry Pi or are middle-aged with a technical bent and looking for a career change, our hope is that the discussion we’re starting here in WServerNews will inform, guide and perhaps warn you as you consider IT as a career.
The way we’re going to proceed here is like this:
- First I’ll share an email from a reader or a link to an article.
- Then I’ll share my own personal perspective on the subject the reader has raised.
Feel free to send me your comments on any of the stuff we discuss below.
A degree in Botany might help
Several issues ago we included a Factoid about how Google’s new Career Certificates could disrupt the college degree. This brought responses from readers Jeffrey Harris and Wayne Hanks which we shared in the July 5th and July 19th issues of our newsletter, and we’ve continued to receive additional reader emails on this topic. This one from reader Rocky Habeeb got our attention:
Thanks for the article on whether a four year degree is really worth it in IT now.
I have been in IT for over forty years. My degree is in Business Management.
And it is only a two year degree.
I am self-taught in IT like a lot of people I know.
In my many years of service, I have known many people who are experts in IT whose degrees are not in IT.
The smartest man I know who works in IT does not have a four year IT degree.
His degree is in Botany.
But I would put him up against ANY person on this planet right now when it comes to Systems and IT Management.
He is the only man I know who can do both of these things:
[1] Build and frame up with 2″ x 4″ lumber an independent room in a building, wire it up completely with electricity and outlets, hang sheetrock and mud and finish it, hang a suspended ceiling, place a static rubberized flooring system, install lighting fixtures, and complete all the finish woodworking trim work and paint the room, and then:
[2] Install a half million dollar ADIC Hierarchal Storage Tape Storage system comprising 100 terabytes of storage, build, codify and install a State-Of-The Art Unix computing management system, Install the application code, secure it with proper network permissions, integrate it into a Windows Domain, Publish it, Build and complete the back-up systems needed to archive data from it and put it online for usage to store terabytes of Forestry and Civil Engineering data for a professional Civil Engineering company.
I know people who can do one … OR the other.
But I do not know ANYONE except this man, who can do both.
And his degree is in Botany.
Four year IT degrees need to be seriously considered, if you want a career in this field.
The implied point here is that university graduates are likely able to succeed in almost any career they may choose, even if it’s far removed from their original field of study. Hence getting a degree in Botany might well qualify you to become a sysadmin or IT consultant. The opposite may not be true however—I’m not sure I’d trust an IT professional to keep my houseplants watered (LOL)!
But let’s consider this more closely. Why has this Botany graduate done so well in the IT field? Is it because slogging through four or more years of university sharpened his brain and improved his ability to think? Did the discipline of going to class every day and preparing for tests and doing labs create in him the kind of self-discipline needed to do well in a challenging profession like IT? Or did getting a university degree simply indicate that he had latent smartness and talent that could be applied in any profession?
I was a Physics graduate myself and was planning on pursuing a PhD in Astrophysics when my life took a somewhat different turn. I briefly ended up in the teaching profession and eventually landed in IT working first in web development, then managing other developers, then as a LAN admin, a technical trainer, consultant, author, editor, v-dash at Microsoft and so on. Today I run an IT content development business together with my wife that creates books, articles, newsletters, courseware, whitepapers, case studies, vendor documentation, online community building and other IT-related activities and materials. I’ve been pretty successful over the years with my business, but I don’t think that has anything to do with my graduating from university. I simply have always loved learning, so when it came to switching to IT as a career, I had the fun of having to learn a whole new subject field from scratch.
And the more I spent time building our IT content development business, the more I discovered that what actually gets me excited is business, not technology. I probably could have been just as happy manufacturing those little umbrellas you put in mojitos instead of writing big fat books for Microsoft and technical content for other large vendors. (Remember the movie Cocktail with Tom Cruise? Look it up and watch it if you don’t know what I’m referring to.) In fact if I could go back and do it all over again, I’d probably skip going to university and jump right in into starting a business, and I’d suggest every young tech-minded person think similarly. Or at least I might have taken a very different path in university. But more on that later.
Anyways, what do you think about this? Email me your thoughts and questions.
Filtering minds
Murat Yildirimoglu a Systems Engineer and Microsoft Certified Trainer from Turkey also had some thoughts on this subject:
My thoughts on the necessity for a college degree are nothing but conflicting.
Mostly, I believe university is an outdated concept: It is too long, and recently, too expensive (at least in many countries).
But, from my being MCT (Microsoft Certified Trainer) for a long time, I have different thoughts too.
I taught hundreds, if not thousands students on IT Technologies and saw that there is a huge difference between students.
Those who finished or attended university have been my best students.
Those could not “enter” a university could not get the core of the course material and when they have jobs in IT, their jobs are just entry level.
In Turkey, there is a central university entrance exam. And it is a good quality one.
If somebody cannot pass the exam, it means they do not have the necessary mind to be other than entry level professionals.
I did not see a single exception to this claim.
Finishing the university is not necessary though.
I have many students who cannot manage finishing the college and reasons are mostly not related to mental capabilities.
Murat raises some good points here. For example, I agree that university can work pretty well as a kind of filter that can help companies hire candidates who have potential for performing their jobs satisfactorily. I suppose this is because if someone is able to survive the grind of attending classes, writing papers, and studying for exams, then it’s pretty likely that individual will be able to come to work every day, write reports, and learn the ins and outs of the products and solutions the company sells. In other words, if you can survive the stress and tedium of university then you can probably survive the stress and tedium of working in IT at a company.
And the opposite is probably true too—if you can’t hack it at university then you probably can’t hack working for someone else’s businesses as a sysadmin, developer, or other IT-related role. You might however have the stuff to work as an independent IT consultant, trainer or writer since the motivation is different when you’re on your own as opposed to punching someone else’s clock. And you’ll never know unless you take a chance and try.
What’s your opinion on this? Email me your comments and queries.
IT and true love
Bruce Anderson brings a somewhat different perspective to this whole question:
College Degrees. Mine has been absolutely vital to my professional life. And my personal life.
Professional – I’ve been working in IT for better than 35 years. Some years quite successfully and some not so much. But one keeps at it. I’ve now been with my current employer 28 years and enjoy my job quite a bit.
Personally – my bride went to the same school but graduated before I started. But a friend of mine from the school worked with her. He arranged a bunch of people to go to a soccer game and we’ve been together ever since – married 34 years in September.
So the degree was very useful for me.
The best part is it was from a Vo-Tech [EDITOR: a vocational/technical school]. In two years I was able to complete two programs. I was working at the time at UPS and could pay for a quarter with less than a one-week pay check. The costs have gone up but we are still supporters of the Vo-Techs. My youngest is starting a Vo-Tech program this fall to be an electrician.
Just different stokes for different folks. I will never tell anyone that what they are doing for education is a waste. It’s all part of one’s journey.
I like Bruce’s take on this a lot. First, the idea of vocational/technical training appeals to me (and to many practically-minded young people) because it’s more focused career-wise and generally faster—and a lot cheaper—than getting a degree in Computer Science or Engineering from a university. Most university degrees in fact do not provide clear pathways to becoming employed in jobs that leverage the knowledge and skills you’ve acquired pursuing your degree. In fact I still remember way back when I was a university student and was hitchhiking to classes during a transit strike. I started talking with the guy who had picked me up and found out he was just finishing his PhD in English Literature. I said wow and asked him what he planned to do once he got his degree. “Deliver pizzas, probably” was his reply. This happened quite a few years ago when university was still relatively cheap, so imagine being in this situation today when you’ve racked up tens of thousands of dollars of student debt! And for those who think that it’s different if you get accepted at a prestigious top university, read this Slashdot post and be afraid, be very afraid!
But as Bruce says above, getting an education—any form of education—is probably never a waste. Going to school, whether a vo-tech, college, or for-profit learning academy can increase your knowledge, provide you with new skills, and instill more self-discipline which will probably benefit you in whatever job you eventually land in. And you never know who you might meet while you’re at school, maybe a future business partner or mentor or even your spouse!
On the other hand, you don’t want to invest several years of your life just in the off-chance of meeting someone who can hire you, mentor you, or marry you. Especially if there is a shorter path you could try following to reach whatever goals you want to achieve in life.
Agree? Disagree? Email me your views and opinions.
Some advice for the young
Then there’s the reality of what the IT job market is like in your technical field of interest and the area where you live. Yes there is good money to be made in IT, but like everything in life it comes with a cost. A recent report on VPNOverview.com highlights this by examining the prospects for IT workers in the USA across different regions and industry sectors:
Where Are IT Professionals in the United States Making the Most? (VPNOverview.com)
https://vpnoverview.com/news/where-are-it-professionals-in-the-united-states-making-the-most/
If you read the above article you can see that the big growth area for IT jobs is currently information security. So if you simply want to learn some skills that can get you a job in IT then you should probably focus on learning everything you can about cybersecurity. Or perhaps you love Linux and like to hack and you’re thinking about starting your own cybersecurity company. If this is true, be careful! As those of us who work in IT know very well, new cybersecurity firms are popping up everywhere these days like mushrooms in your lawn after a heavy rainfall. And we all know what mushrooms need to grow well—darkness and s***.
Or maybe you want to work in an IT field where you can get well paid for the kind of work you perform. In that case the report suggests becoming a web developer or database administrator may be the way to go since those job areas have experienced the fastest increase in salaries during the last five years. Network architects get paid a lot more of course, but jobs for those are fewer and it’s a more challenging field to learn.
But here’s where I’m going to diverge from the majority and suggest choosing a different path if you’re a young person interesting in technology. When it comes to working for someone else or being in charge of your own business, there’s just no comparison in my opinion. Just start a business. What, you don’t know anything about running a business? Neither did I when I started one. But isn’t having your own business a lot more stressful than working for someone else? Sure, if you don’t consider boredom and being subservient to others stressful. But how do I know whether I have the stuff to successfully build a business? Well, you’ll never know what you’re capable of unless you take some risks to find out. And being young is the very best time to take a lot of risks since you have time on your side and boundless energy to recover should you fail on your first few attempts.
My two cents of advice then to young ambitious tech-minded individuals is this:
- While you’re in school or college start at least one small business on the side and preferably two. Fix PCs, repair phones, proofread resumes, teach cybersecurity to seniors, create an app you can sell, whatever—just do it. Your 20s is the time for building your future, not for wasting time having fun—that can come later.
- Learn how to sell, it’s the best skill you can learn for success in all areas of life. Read good books on how to sell, and begin by focusing on selling yourself as that offers the biggest return of anything you can sell. Try affiliate marketing if you can stand living in the swamp called social media. Experiment with enterprise software products, then go to tech conferences and connect with vendors and see if you can wiggle your way into enterprise software sales by selling yourself to them.
- Focus on learning about business any and every way you can—by taking workshops and courses, thru first-hand experience (including failures—best way to learn!), by reading books, and by talking with all the business owners you meet. If you do decide go to university, try to take at least one course in basic accounting and a couple in law—contracts and tax law especially—even if it means changing your degree program several times. Work just hard enough to get a B in your courses so you can spend your excess time and energy getting a business or two going on the side. Then once your side business(es) start taking off, seriously consider dropping out of university to focus full-time on building a business.
- Remember, nothing lasts forever in life. There may come a season when working for others might be preferable for you compared with running your own business, for example once you get married and have kids if you choose to go that route. Nothing prepares you better however for the tech job market than having previously started and successfully run your own business.
Finally concerning the question that every young person asks: “What if I fail?” Well if you fail, so what? My first attempt at starting a business failed horribly and I ended up finding a job that paid poorly just to keep the bill collectors at bay. But I worked hard and kept on learning, and slowly I advanced at my job. Then I saw an opportunity and landed a better job, but even there I couldn’t let go of the idea of working for myself instead of for others. So I started making plans, and then finally one day I saw an opportunity and took a leap.
And I’ve never looked back.
Having your own business gives you freedom, the freedom to manage your time and pursue your own goals. It also has better earning potential than most career paths offer—provided you’re willing to work very hard for several years at the start. Most of all, it changes you by developing character and confidence that spills over into almost every area of your life.
It’s the best choice in life for earning a living and way more fun than working for others—in my opinion at least.
What are your own observations and experiences between working for others vs. having your own business? Share your story with our readers.
Got comments about anything in this issue?
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Tip of the Week
Need to run a mail server?
If you feel that you need to operate your own mail server instead of utilizing the services of another, this article from the Mail Operator’s List offers some helpful advice:
Best Practices for running a mail server (Mailop)
https://www.mailop.org/best-practices/
Admin Toolbox
>> Got any admin tools or software you’d like to recommend to our readers? Email us your recommendations!
dtSearch®-Instantly Search Terabytes. Doc. filters for popular file types, emails, databases & web data; 25+ search options; Win/Lin/Mac C++/Java/.NET Core APIs; Azure/AWS FAQs. Enterprise/dev evals.
Unchecky helps you keep potentially unwanted programs out of your computer:
Viscosity is a fully-featured OpenVPN client, ready for enterprise deployment:
https://www.sparklabs.com/viscosity/
Lithnet Password Protection for Active Directory (LPP) enhances the options available to an organization wanting to ensure that all their Active Directory accounts have strong passwords:
https://github.com/lithnet/ad-password-protection
Factoid – One boob tube to rule them all
Our previous factoid and question was this:
Fact: In 2030, you won’t own any gadgets.
Source: https://gizmodo.com/in-2030-you-wont-own-any-gadgets-1847176540
Question: What do our readers think about this Gizmodo prognostication? Utopian or Dystopian?
Several of our readers responded to this one at length. John Bouttell a Systems & Network Administrator in New Zealand says:
Hi Mitch
Long time reader of WServerNews (15+ years!), first time responder from New Zealand
By 2030, I will be semi-retired, and I will be an implacable, resolute rebel against this horrifying, disgusting, neo-feudalistic dystopia.
There are some searing insights in the comments section of this story from over 6 years ago:
Chief among them being from one ‘Anonymous Coward’:
“Corporatism and communism are two sides of the same coin. Intellectual Property maximalists and Stalinists have so many parallels, such as lack of regard for basic rights, a deep hatred towards the free market, and denial of ownership.”
And
“The original intent of copyright was to progress science and the arts, and not advance the cause of big business by turning everyone into serfs.”
For myself, I fully expect to still be running Windows 8.1, the last ‘properly perpetually ownable’ MS-OS on ‘old’ but still reliably running hardware. Hell, by then, I’ll probably have switched to Linux!
While I won’t ‘own’ the house I live in, it will be owned by my Family Trust, and as one of its Trustees, I will get to choose what level (if any) of ‘smart-ness’ it gets retrofitted with.
I will own and run and maintain my acquired fleet of ‘state-of-the-ark’ Samsung S5s until the day 4G gets switched off. I have enough smarts to keep my phone’s data slurpage/leakage to Google to the absolute minimum.
I am blessed to own and love a 1990 ‘vintage’ Mazda MX5 (aka Miata in North America). With more than 4 million of them made, they are the world’s most popular sports convertible, with just the right amount of electronics (engine management only). There will be no shortage of spare parts or mechanic knowledge in my lifetime.
I also own, ride and love a 2013 Honda CB500X motorbike that again has ‘just enough’ electronics smarts to do all the basic things really well. And NO ‘updates’ or location tracking required AT ALL
So in summary response to this article, I will loudly declare “Damn straight I’ll be owning my gadgets, because all of them will pre-date this software service subscription insanity.”
If we can’t reclaim Power To/For The People, then the Corporatists will rule the Sheeple.
A parting thought from one of the greatest inventors who’d be turning in his grave if this dystopia became the norm:
Nothing strengthens [totalitarian] authority so much as silence. Leonardo da Vinci
Finally a note/vote of appreciation of all your editorial hard work that I know must go into your weekly WServerNews letter for all of us IT-Pros in the various trenches around the world.
Thanks!
Jeffrey Harris an IT professional and CISSP also shared some thoughts on this subject:
Mitch, regarding ownership of gadgets, I think it depends.
For mobile phones and any devices dependent on a dedicated cellular wireless service plan, we are already in a mode of not really owning the devices. Although users legally have title to devices, the service providers are already bundling devices and updates to new devices in their service plans, and have been for a while.
For PCs and other devices that use wired or WIFI technologies that are contracted separately from the devices, people will continue to buy them. They will be relatively cheap for most people, and obsolesce of these devices is generally not as fast as for mobile devices. The support for these devices will be driven by the business, not home, markets, and businesses want a degree of stability that will last between five and ten years for operating system support, which is generally the driver for people to upgrade computers.
Other types of devices (routers and modems) will be a mix. Some customers will continue to lease them from their providers (in my case, I have to use the provider’s modem because we subscribe to their VOIP service, but I could switch to a dedicated Internet modem, although I would then need two devices at a small cost savings. However, I own my own router.)
That is both a good and bad thing. It is generally good to own equipment because the cost of ownership is generally lower than the cost of rental, unless the equipment is frequently being replaced, but it is bad because the old equipment frequently goes out of support (firmware, drivers, even OS support) after a period of time long before it fails, and can no longer be safely operated. I have PCs from 2005 that still run quite well. One is used only for offline purposes with no Internet connectivity, two are running Windows 10 x32 (because the processors do not support the necessary x64 extensions required for Windows 10 x64), and one is running Windows Server 2012. When those operating systems finally reach end of life, those three computers will finally be retired. Yes, there is some risk to operating those three computers without vendor support, but the two Windows 10 systems are mostly off, and I keep the Windows Server patched as much as I can (fortunately, Microsoft has taken responsibility for managing many kinds of drivers from the vendors, so that helps).
Now let’s move on to our next factoid:
Fact: A few days ago last few remaining NTSC transmitters in the USA finally came off air, marking the end of over seven decades of continuous 525-line American analogue TV broadcasts.
Source: https://hackaday.com/2021/07/14/end-of-an-era-ntsc-finally-goes-dark-in-america/
Question: How does the on-demand streaming TV today compare in your opinion with the broadcast TV of yesteryear? And do you think there’s a future for high-definition over-the-air (OTA) broadcast TV or is it headed towards the dustbin of history too?
Email us your answer and we’ll include it in our next issue!
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Conference Calendar 2021
NOTE: Conference dates and locations (real/virtual) are subject to change
Open Source Summit — Aug. 4-6 in Vancouver, Canada
https://events.linuxfoundation.org/open-source-summit-north-america/
DEF CON 29 — Aug. 5-8 (location TBA)
European Cloud Summit — Sept. 27-29 in Frankfurt, Germany
https://www.cloudsummit.eu/en/
Open Source Summit — Sept. 29-Oct. 1 in Dublin, Ireland
https://events.linuxfoundation.org/open-source-summit-europe/
VMworld — Oct 5-7 (virtual)
https://www.vmworld.com/en/index.html
Black Hat Europe – Nov 8-11 (virtual)
https://www.blackhat.com/upcoming.html#europe
Podcast Corner
SQL Questions and Answers from SQLIntersection Spring 2021! (RunAsRadio)
What It Takes To Build An ISP In 2021 (Heavy Networking)
https://packetpushers.net/series/weekly-show/
MFD6 Aruba Central & Wi-Fi 6E AP Reveal (Clear To Send)
The Kaseya incident wasn’t nearly as big as we thought (Risky Business)
https://risky.biz/netcasts/risky-business/
New Dawn for SharePoint & Windows (Microsoft Cloud Show)
http://www.microsoftcloudshow.com/podcast
New on Techgenix.com
IaaS vs. virtualization vs. containerization: Which to choose?
The IT world is presented with several execution environments including IaaS, virtualization, and containerization. Is one better than the others?
https://techgenix.com/iaas-virtualization-containerization/
Automating your Azure virtual network gateway with infrastructure-as-code
Here’s how to automate a simple task to create Azure virtual network gateway connections that once required a bunch of expertise and special permissions.
https://techgenix.com/automating-your-azure-virtual-network-gateway/
Milanote workplace collaboration app used for phishing attacks
With the rise of applications intended for collaboration in the workplace, largely driven by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was inevitable for them to catch cybercriminals’ attention.
https://techgenix.com/milanote-phishing-attacks/
Sorry, not sorry: Microsoft says you can’t bypass Windows 11 requirements
IT pros have been trying to make sense of the requirements needed to install Windows 11. A new Microsoft video tries to answers some questions.
https://techgenix.com/windows-11-requirements/
Review: Microsoft 365 email signature management solution Exclaimer Cloud
Exclaimer Cloud is a powerful Microsoft 365 solution that creates, designs, manages, and centralizes your company’s email signatures. Here’s our review.
https://techgenix.com/exclaimer-cloud-review/
Fun videos from Flixxy
Drone Footage Of World’s Largest Plane – Antonov-225
Drone footage of the world’s largest aircraft. The Antonov-225 is so huge, the Wright Brother’s first flight could have taken place in the cargo bay!
https://www.flixxy.com/drone-footage-of-worlds-largest-plane-mriya-an-225.htm
Mind Blowing Moments Caught On Camera
There are those moments – which happen not to often – where we get to see something that really catches us by surprise…
https://www.flixxy.com/mind-blowing-moments-caught-on-camera.htm
Student Pilot Loses Engine – Lands Safely
Student pilot keeps calm and collected when his plane has a complete engine failure.
https://www.flixxy.com/student-pilot-loses-engine-lands-safely.htm
Incredibly Fast Workers and Athletes 2021
The satisfaction of doing things fast and precisely can be tremendous, whether at work or at play.
https://www.flixxy.com/incredibly-fast-workers-and-athletes-2021.htm
Send us your feedback!
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