Get an expert to help with your problem
The key to employing a consultant, in any field, is to appreciate the value of time and the price of mistakes. The more you delay, the worse the problem will get. So, seek independent advice from an expert.
Consultant Topics
There will be times when you can not do the work yourself.
The crucial advantage your consultant has is that they have seen
the problem before and know the short cuts. So avoid the pitfalls and call for someone with experience. Here
are situations where a consultant will save you time:-
- To give advice before you start a project.
E.g. install Active Directory
- To to upgrade the existing system. E.g.migration to Exchange 2000.
- A critical system will not work and you need help.
- You need to fix a problem - quickly. E.g.Disaster recovery.
- You need an extra pair of expert hands.
- You need an expert witness to settle a dispute
 Active Directory Training
As an MCT trainer, I can thoroughly recommend
TrainSignal because they provide practical hands on
training. In particular, I like the way that TrainSignal cover all learning methods, instructor lead, video and of course text material. You can either take one module, for example Active Directory or go for
a combination of modules.
See more about Active Directory training
People often think there is only one way of doing things - the
way their organisation has always done a particular task. An
independent consultant will open your mind to new ways and new
ideas.
- Practical know-how of the system in question.
- Detective skills gained from solving a similar problem.
- Speed in diagnosing the problem.
- Knowledge of where to look for the answers.
- Extra resources, specialist tools and those precious
commodities - time and focus.
These are areas where you could bring in an expert.
- Planning Active Directory or Migrating from NT 4.0 to Windows
XP.
- Implementing new systems. e.g. Windows 2000 Active Directory.
- Troubleshooting network connectivity problems. Tracing
intermittent problems.
- Health checks for your network. Getting the most out of your
computers.
- Clearing up problems caused when previous staff leave.
Seven points check list:-
- Processor - CPU Usage
- Available memory
- Application (Process) usage
- Network utilisation
- Disk performance
- Network connectivity - DNS and WINS
- Event Log - Diagnosing and eliminating errors
An example of a summary with recommendations
Project Brief: To improve network response. To isolate the bottleneck and produce cost effective
solutions.
Processor and Disk are fine, no bottlenecks. Memory paging is
excessive, and the available memory is critically low. I suggest
you upgrade the RAM from 128 to 512MB. Network utilisation is
high in the mornings, averaging 25% for several hours. As a
solution, consider segmenting the two floors to improve network
performance.
Propose moving Lotus Domino from the Domain controller to its
own server. However this may be overtaken by events if the
proposed migration to Exchange goes ahead.
Event Log indicates Backup is not working some nights, check
the tape drives. DNS errors indicate that there is an error in
the root domain configuration. Suggest you set up a timeserver
on the network.
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