All Things Technology Related Thread

[TheMalcolmConnection]

Originally Posted by FRPLG

Increased for awhile since they couldn't do it themselves. Faced with an almost universal response of "no" it didn't take them long to realize we were serious. Removing admin rights meant they couldn't just install whatever. That was the point. Too many security issues, too much to have to support, and biggest of all too much risk associated with licensing. When we told management micro$oft could fine us hundreds of thousands of dollars for being out of licensing compliance it didn't take them long to agree that having a free-for-all had to end. Within a year everyone got us to it. We figured out quickly too: if people don't think the IT department is a bunch of dicks theyre probably not doing your jobs.

Very, very interesting. It's tough to be a dick because the climate here is almost a "even though this is a W&L computer, it's MY computer." For me, the biggest benefit of users calling for installs is that we get to vet them. I imagine our calls will go down significantly once people realize how embarrassing it'll be to call and say, "SooooOoo, I was hoping to get this Hello Kitty! screensaver installed."

Since I'm in one building, I don't mind walking to someone's office to check out an app for them. What did you do for laptop users? That's my biggest concern right now since I have professors traveling all over the world and the last thing I want is for them to absolutely need an install and we can't help them.

My thought was to create a local backdoor account with like a 25 character password so they can install in case of emergencies, but the password would be prohibitive to them logging in as that account all the time. Sure, we have a couple savvy users who would change it, and I would just deal with that as I went forward.

Sorry for all the questions, but I'm in charge of this initiative for both sides of campus and we're wanting to work through all scenarios.