ughh I hate IT

[SpatiallyAware]

I don't get what you're getting all worked up about. Lighten up, Francis. Jeez.

Unless I'm misunderstanding the OP, he was able to to setup his device to begin receiving email without any interaction with IT. That is is not possible in our environment, and shouldn't be possible. In our environment for Blackberry devices users of course must be added to the BES, and then an activation password is given to the user only after their identity is verified. They can then activate wirelessly. I'm not exactly sure what's so confusing about that. For Android/iPhone/WM/webOS/Symbian devices we manage through Good Mobile Messaging.

BES - you have to set an activation password, a BES server is in front of the exchange server handling all the auth etc

Activesync (what the OP did) - part of exchange, exchange does the auth via AD. Activesync is enabled by default, so in a lot of n00b exchange installations you can just type in your external mail server, username, and pw and get mail.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Uhh.. what?

This isn't 2005. A BES activation password is not required to activate on a Blackberry Enterprise Server. This is a world of Android and iPhone's which have Exchange sync's built into the OS and all it requires is the server IP/Hostname/External-Facing-Cert-Bearing-URL, and simple active directory authentication (see: username/password).

Not sure what magical world you're living in.

I think this post is causing the confusion... Unless they majorly changed BES (granted I'm not sure what release I'm on, although I have all the updates..) an activation password is required with a 'default' setup.

 

[trmiv]

Activesync (what the OP did) - part of exchange, exchange does the auth via AD. Activesync is enabled by default, so in a lot of n00b exchange installations you can just type in your external mail server, username, and pw and get mail.

This is pretty much how our environment was a few years ago, it was complete chaos. Now ActiveSync disabled by default, and we use Good Mobile Messaging.

 

[ebaycj]

Setting up his work email on his phone really SHOULDN'T be possible without help from IT. Some serious security fail there.

Unless he has an OWA reader, and his OWA access is already set up.

 

[hellotyler]

Speaking as a freelance IT person (who often deals with other IT department screw ups) it really all comes down to the individual. Sometimes you get somebody who is happy to help you, other times you get the person who you have to prod just to do their job. My advice if you get somebody stupid is to simply call back.

 

[RocksteadyDotNet]

This problem isn't I.T.

The problem is that women are stupid.

 

[ultimatebob]

That isn't realistic in many cases. If your financials run on a particular version of Oracle and that version is only certified for IE 6.x, for example, guess what? You're going to be running IE 6.x until either 1) You upgrade Oracle (hugely expensive) or 2) Oracle certifies their application to run on IE 8, which may or may not happen depending on how far behind you are on Oracle versions.

Your corporate CFO doesn't give three shits about which version of IE you're running; he DOES care about having access to his Oracle financials and he DOES care about spending money to do upgrades.

Seriously, some of these posts make me wonder. Locking down your machines is PRECISELY the solution for this and many other reasons.

OK... So you keep IE 6 on the PC for your crappy ass outdated Oracle financial application until you can afford to upgrade, and use Firefox as the default browser for everything else. How hard is that? Hell... you could even just put an dedicated icon called "Badly designed Oracle Web App" on everyone's desktops that opens the web site in IE6 just to keep your users from getting confused.

It's crap like this that makes me glad that the company that I work for develops modern web applications that are platform agnostic... We currently support both Firefox 3.x and IE 7/8 now, and we're already putting pressure on the development team to fully support Google Chrome and Firefox 4/IE 9 once they're released.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

ok I consider myself a pretty knowledgeable computer person, only reason I didn't go into IT or a related field is I hated dealing with people being idiots with computers, and knew most entry level jobs that would be the primary roll.

Now I can't be the only person like this who works for a company and you know about as much if not more than the first level Help Desk you have to call when there is an issue that you can't fix directly. Today I had to call in because for some reason the server I use to log into work remotely was down or I just wasn't able to connect to it. Told the lady nicely that soemthing is wrong with the server and would you mind checking it out. she cut me off and made me go thru 45min of diagnostic the whole time talking down at me because I kept trying to tell her the problem wasn't on my side. Call ended with the problem unresolved, while they were looking into the issue. Well I called my friend at the HQ he said the server was down for maintance......Seriously 45min and she didn't even check the server.....

how do you guys deal with this it drives me crazy to no end, because of bs like this I by pass IT completly, if I think I can fix it on my own and when I get caught the rat me out to my boss, he doesn't really care all that much, but they try to get me in trouble over it, and i'm just trying to do my job.

List of things IT said were impossible I figured out on my own to do.
-Work email on my Android phone - got it to work fine after 20min of experimenting with server settings
- printing from the work system remotely - one check mark in the connection settings and oh my I can print
- Log in remotely with my evo - ok this one I didn't even ask about I just did it for shits and giggles and showed my boss and he was like show me how to do that (helps him because he is always on the road and its easier than pulling his laptop out for basic stuff)

On the flip side you guys in IT do you really hate people like me?

I want to punch users like you in the face, nothing personal, its just there is a reason why certain things are done the way they are.

Email on your personal phone = not their problem, unsupported device. We cant support everything on the planet, even it we know it will work sometimes we just say you cant because we dont have the manpower to mess with ut

Printing from work system remotely? Again, make a business case why you need to do this and justify it to IT, maybe they will do it, but until then it becomes crap they dont have time to deal with.

Log in remotely without IT permission? I would have you fired for breach of network security. You may be responsible etc but that's just plain dumb. Would you break into work after hours just because you thought you were somehow entitled to be there?

Again, nothing personal dude, but there is a reason IT give guys like you crap. You think just because we wont, it means we cant. Sometimes you really have to work with the funding and manpower you have.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

OK... So you keep IE 6 on the PC for your crappy ass outdated Oracle financial application until you can afford to upgrade, and use Firefox as the default browser for everything else. How hard is that?

And why would you do that exactly? Why would you support 2 browsers? You'd then have to invest in additional patch management, as WSUS, for example, doesn't support Firefox patching. If you already have Shavlik in house, you're set, but it is expensive if you don't. Having to script or package updates specifically for Firefox via SMS would be a bit too much.

Hell... you could even just put an dedicated icon called "Badly designed Oracle Web App" on everyone's desktops that opens the web site in IE6 just to keep your users from getting confused.

To be fair, this was back in the IE6 (IIRC) days and we were stuck on IE5. The best solution to his problem that I've seen today, bar none, is ThinApp. Virtual desktops with Pano boxes is a really cool solution too, though more costly. If I were an IT Director at a major company, that is the direction I'd personally go.

It's crap like this that makes me glad that the company that I work for develops modern web applications that are platform agnostic... We currently support both Firefox 3.x and IE 7/8 now, and we're already putting pressure on the development team to fully support Google Chrome and Firefox 4/IE 9 once they're released.

Unfortunately, a company like Oracle is huge and well-entrenched in many companies and due to cost constraints, you stay with what works. I hate Oracle and think it blows, but I was paid to support what we had.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

The solution should NOT have been to lock the machines down, though that is indeed appropriate in most corporate environments for other reasons. Instead:

FIX YOUR CODE TO WORK ON ALL BROWSERS! And remove the ancient browsers that bend over and present to any passerby. Or.... Insist that your vendors do the same! If you are in a healthcare environment, your budget should allow for this! If not, the thought of HIPPA violation lawsuits due to spyware should compel your admin to press the issue!!

Allowing ancient browsers simply because you think you are in a walled garden is not a smart thing to do.

You sir, are part of the problem! Good Day Sir!

You must live in the land of unicorns and pixie dust. I work in healthcare as well and even with the newest GE PACS system you can only just now run IE7. FDA certification which medical software/Patient care devices require by FEDERAL LAW takes time and they arent really concerned that youtube doesnt support IE6. Besides, these are WORK MACHINES for PATIENT CARE and should not even be used for web browsing

 

[alkemyst]

I love this, fix your code to work on ALL BROWSERS and at the same time remove support for ANCIENT browsers.

Dude probably thinks big business is chomping at the bit for IE9 to ever get released on XP Pro.

We are a major national company, only recently have we rolled out IE8 and it needs compatibility mode enabled for many other big business sites.

 

[Wyndru]

Try working in IT before you rag on people who do. If I had a dime for every employee I had to deal with who "knew more than IT," I'd be a wealthy man. The ones who think they know more than IT are the ones who are the most dangerous.

It isn't IT's job to support every employee's toy. If you have an Android phone and they said it is "impossible" to get it working, that translates to "It isn't our standard and we aren't supporting it." And I agree with that 100%. We have users here who have iPhones and they want them connected to Exchange. Sure, I could have easily done it and actually did do it when we tested iPhones for use here, but that isn't the point. The point is that it isn't our standard and we are not supporting non-standard devices.

This xinfinity.

The the tech savvy people we have working in some of our departments are always the people who fuck with their PC's to the point that they need to be recloned on a regular basis. Then they bitch that our hardware or software is causing the issues, when you can see they have been installing shit for the last 6 months.

 

[FoBoT]

only 5% of "I.T." people are geeks/highly knowledgeable , most people in I.T. are in it for the money, 50 years ago they would have been doctors/lawyers or whatever

 

[FoBoT]

I love this, fix your code to work on ALL BROWSERS and at the same time remove support for ANCIENT browsers.

Dude probably thinks big business is chomping at the bit for IE9 to ever get released on XP Pro.

We are a major national company, only recently have we rolled out IE8 and it needs compatibility mode enabled for many other big business sites.

we still block IE8 , we have developers that say they don't have time to update stuff to work with IE8 so IE7 is our official version
our support people are trained on how to remove IE8, if it gets installed from microsoft update/(l)users

 

[Anubis]

I love this, fix your code to work on ALL BROWSERS and at the same time remove support for ANCIENT browsers.

Dude probably thinks big business is chomping at the bit for IE9 to ever get released on XP Pro.

We are a major national company, only recently have we rolled out IE8 and it needs compatibility mode enabled for many other big business sites.

hehe we are like this but worse, there are close to 800 people in my building, everyone has a computer

1 single computer is running a OS thats not Win XP, and its running VISTA D:
IE6 office 2k3 you know the good stuff.

however our shitty oracle web aps work fine in FF and even opera

rumor is we are gonna get upgraded to office 2K10 next year so i can stop complaining about row and column limits in excel

 

[trmiv]

rumor is we are gonna get upgraded to office 2K10 next year so i can stop complaining about row and column limits in excel

We just rolled out 2K10 to a good portion of the IT staff last week. It is on a volunteer basis for us IT folks right now, so I volunteered. Very nice! I like it a lot better than 2007. Sorry to hear you're still on 2003!

 

[IndyColtsFan]

hehe we are like this but worse, there are close to 800 people in my building, everyone has a computer

1 single computer is running a OS thats not Win XP, and its running VISTA D:
IE6 office 2k3 you know the good stuff.

however our shitty oracle web aps work fine in FF and even opera

rumor is we are gonna get upgraded to office 2K10 next year so i can stop complaining about row and column limits in excel

My last company ran NT4 and Office 97 on the workstations up until the upgrade started in 2003 and in some areas, IIRC, until 2005 or so. :|

My current company has the opposite problem -- we move too fast. They like to say we're on the "leading edge, not bleeding edge" but we're pretty close to bleeding. Whereas most companies will skip an OS or two or wait years between upgrades, we're going to Windows 7 after just going to Vista last year. We tried to tell them NOT to go to Vista, but their response was:

"We've been on XP too long and we need to give the users something new and shiny."

No matter that had they waited 6 months, they could've gone straight to Windows 7 and only done one rollout. 🙄

The same goes with other stuff -- Blackberries? We upgrade very quickly. I have a Bold and I'll be getting a Torch soon. They've already deployed like 30 iPads, and that's just the beginning.

Fortunately though, the environment is locked down pretty tight and centrally managed.

 

[Anubis]

We just rolled out 2K10 to a good portion of the IT staff last week. It is on a volunteer basis for us IT folks right now, so I volunteered. Very nice! I like it a lot better than 2007. Sorry to hear you're still on 2003!

the upgrade is gonna be hell here everyone and i mean EVERYONE hates the ribbon interface, they are going to have to install that user mod that brings back the normal interface or spend a month training people how to use it

2k3 works fine for if you never run into the 256 column & 65k row limits. Think it also has a 30k points on a single graph limit that we hit sometimes, however we can just use minitab to graph that stuff

 

[Anubis]

The same goes with other stuff -- Blackberries? We upgrade very quickly. I have a Bold and I'll be getting a Torch soon. They've already deployed like 30 iPads, and that's just the beginning.

hahaha here you get a dumb phone if you get one through work

 

[rcpratt]

the upgrade is gonna be hell here everyone and i mean EVERYONE hates the ribbon interface, they are going to have to install that user mod that brings back the normal interface or spend a month training people how to use it

2k3 works fine for if you never run into the 256 column & 65k row limits. Think it also has a 30k points on a single graph limit that we hit sometimes, however we can just use minitab to graph that stuff

What they hate is change. I got used to the ribbon interface in 2007 in all of a month, and now it's much easier. Tell them to suck it up.

I hope we're getting Win7/IE9/2010 soon. And just new computers. I almost wish I didn't have a nice computer at home because it makes me want to stab myself at work. But it looks like they're too busy rolling out new versions of Lotus Notes (holy crap worst software ever) and SAP.

 

[trmiv]

the upgrade is gonna be hell here everyone and i mean EVERYONE hates the ribbon interface, they are going to have to install that user mod that brings back the normal interface or spend a month training people how to use it

2k3 works fine for if you never run into the 256 column & 65k row limits. Think it also has a 30k points on a single graph limit that we hit sometimes, however we can just use minitab to graph that stuff

We've found these guides very useful for helping users get used to the 2007 interface:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/t...e-office-2007-user-interface-HA010229584.aspx

The jump from 2007 to 2010 isn't nearly as dramatic, which is why we're going to roll it out as quickly as we can.

 

[Anubis]

What they hate is change. I got used to the ribbon interface in 2007 in all of a month, and now it's much easier. Tell them to suck it up.

I hope we're getting Win7/IE9/2010 soon. And just new computers. I almost wish I didn't have a nice computer at home because it makes me want to stab myself at work. But it looks like they're too busy rolling out new versions of Lotus Notes (holy crap worst software ever) and SAP.

engineers hate change, especially those over 50

 

[IndyColtsFan]

hahaha here you get a dumb phone if you get one through work

I've tried to give up my phone, but they won't let me. I hate this Blackberry. Web browsing on it blows.

 

[Bateluer]

only 5% of "I.T." people are geeks/highly knowledgeable , most people in I.T. are in it for the money, 50 years ago they would have been doctors/lawyers or whatever

Uh . . .the help desk isn't in it for the money, it pays peanuts. Help Desk is a stepping stone.

 

[JD50]

only 5% of "I.T." people are geeks/highly knowledgeable , most people in I.T. are in it for the money, 50 years ago they would have been doctors/lawyers or whatever

What? I don't think you know what you're talking about. That %5 (my self included) are the ones that actually make the money because they're into what they're doing. The folks that don't really care about their job are the ones on the help desk that don't make any money. Of course everyone has to start somewhere so some help desk people are actually knowledgeable. But unless they get really screwed, they're not gonna stay on the help desk for long.