Being the Contract Manager for PEI, I get to work with most of our End-Users on a day-to-day basis. Aside from keeping track of their ongoing support contracts, I get to speak with them about their daily IT needs and issues and then we offer our consultative services to get them outfitted with the best solution to match their vision. These solutions can run the gamut of a number of our Partners like Cisco, Microsoft, Barracuda, and so on, depending on the needs that have to be addressed. Being able to confidently speak on all our Partners’ products and services in the ever changing world of IT involves much training and hands-on experience. There is absolutely no better way to speak about something then to have first-hand knowledge of said services.
This brings me to “The Test” portion of this blog, which I am planning to be part one of a two-part post. Last month, I found out that I needed to take an unexpected trip overseas to take care of some estate issues right away. I booked my ticket and since have been planning on what I need to do while being out there. However, because life happens, I couldn’t afford, nor did I want to leave my responsibilities at PEI for someone else while I am away. Well, now comes my first opportunity to put to a true test one of the industries’ most popular services, Office 365 Enterprise with Skype for Business. At PEI, we speak about and support Cloud Services with O365 on a daily basis. The ease and reliability of The Cloud to be able to access your needed documents, programs and services, wherever you may be. Well, starting tomorrow, I will be taking a 15-hour total trip overseas. Once I’m there, I want to, need to and plan to be able to set up my office 6000 miles away and with the exception of an eight-hour time difference, I want to, need to and plan to be able to work from there as if I’m right in the office here at the Boulder HQ of PEI. My trusty laptop has O365 Enterprise with Skype for Business loaded up and ready with the soft-phone programmed right in. I should be able to join any meetings I need to virtually without a hitch. I should be able to receive phone calls to my direct number as if I were at my desk. I should be able to access SharePoint and utilize any of the several Office Suite programs to get into any documents and be able to create, edit and send those to whomever may need them either internally or externally.
I have spoken to our clients several times about these needs as many Professionals now are more mobile than before and these services can be vital. Now, I get to experience the ride on my own for the next month.
My hypothesis? I whole-heartedly believe that I can and will be as productive at the other end of the world as I would be sitting in my comfy chain at my desk at PEI. My scenery will be different, however, it should be “just another day at the office.”
Next month I will post part two of this blog with my personal experiences.
Until then…….
Alex Hoosz, PEI
