Food, Family, and Systems Failure A Thanksgiving Holiday Tale BECAUSE IT WOULDN T BE A HOLIDAY IF SOMETHING DIDN T GO HORRIBLY, HORRIBLY WRONG

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1 Food, Family, and Systems Failure A Thanksgiving Holiday Tale BECAUSE IT WOULDN T BE A HOLIDAY IF SOMETHING DIDN T GO HORRIBLY, HORRIBLY WRONG November 23, 2012

2 Illustrations not necessarily representative of typical IT guy or IT gal or representative of holiday attitude. The Holidays Are Upon Us For those of us in the States, the Thanksgiving holiday is a day spent being grateful. Some grateful to have a day or two off, some grateful for Black Friday shopping, and some grateful to spend time with family. No matter the holiday, even if your office is closed, we have no doubt that someone, somewhere is working. And who must bear the brunt of Mr. or Ms. Workaholic s urgent but untimely IT support needs? That s right. YOU 2

3 In the Spirit of Thanksgiving Be Grateful. We know, we know That bit of turkey sandwich possibly just stuck in your throat. However, bear in mind that Mr. and Ms. Workaholic keep our jobs secure even if sometimes you wish they wouldn t. How many of these workaholics did you deal with on Thanksgiving or any other holiday? None? Tell us where you work so we can apply! World's Largest Pumpkin Pie Made in New Bremen, OH 1,212 pounds of canned pumpkin 109 gallons of evaporated milk 2,796 eggs 7 pounds of salt 14.5 pounds of cinnamon 525 pounds of sugar. The final pie weighed 3,699 pounds and measured 20 feet in diameter Too many? Read on and find a few examples of how to avoid getting stuck at the office while everyone else is eating pie. Source: 3

4 Scenario 1: Mr. Typing-Challenged Workaholic How many users have fat-fingered their password, locking themselves out of their computers? Sadly, we know this is a common problem. But, there is an easy fix without having to leave your cozy holiday spot. What do you mean my account is locked!? I only mistyped my password 3 times!! Get over here and fix it!! Please? No worries With DameWare Remote Support, I can unlock his account with the Active Directory management tools right here from my laptop. Then, turkey! 4

5 Scenario 2: Ms. Pushy Saleswoman Workaholic Some people take care of their expense reports before going on vacation Others do not. Inevitably there is a printer error, and who wants to drive somewhere to restart the printer? I know it s Thanksgiving Day and I hope I m not interrupting. Oh you just sat down to eat? Well, this shouldn t take long. If you can drive up here, my computer won t print my expense report and I need that money for Vegas! Don t panic. I ll just restart the printer from the DameWare Remote Services console. Wow I didn t even have to remote control her computer! AND I was able to use the remote Windows admin feature. 5

6 Scenario 3: Mr. Won t Learn New Tricks Workaholic We are in the computer age, but not everyone has reached the age of computer literacy. Apparently, your name is listed under the F1 Help section. Frell. I just scooped up some ice cream. No way to explain this before it melts. Unless I connect to his computer through DameWare s Mini Remote Control Viewer. Then he can just follow my mouse, watch and learn! I say, old boy, this thing called Outlook is just giving me fits today. And my family is waiting for me to carve the turkey! Can you talk me through sending an on the phone? 6

7 Scenario 4: Mr. Mac Fanboy Hipster Workaholic OK, so Marketing working on a holiday seems a little far fetched. However, if Marketing needs support, it s probably on a Mac! Hi, it s Geoff from Marketing. I simply can t use a Windows computer because it just totally kills the flow of my creative juices. Creativity waits for no man and I have deadlines, so get yourself over here and fix my Mac! The only apple I want to deal with right now is apple pie But, I can connect to his Mac through the built-in VNC client in DameWare s Remote Support console. Then, apple pie, here I come! 7

8 Scenario 5: Mr. I Only Do Software Dev Workaholic First, let s be grateful that a software developer is actually reaching out and communicating. Then be impressed that he s testing on the staging, not production, server. And then, help this brave soul! I can t get to the staging server in the data center. It s not responding! It s like it isn t even there anymore. Look, it s Thanksgiving and I simply can t drive all the way out to the datacenter to reboot this thing. You re the IT guy. Get out there and make it work!! Yeah He locked it up pretty good. I ll connect to it through the DameWare Remote Support console s Intel vpro AMT feature to send a reboot command. Then, commence turkey coma. 8

9 About DameWare Remote Support Software DameWare Remote Support software is one of the easiest, most affordable options when it comes to remotely supporting laptops, desktops, and servers. Remotely control and support Mac OS X, Linux and Windows computers without having to leave your desk OR your cozy holiday spot. Curious about DameWare? Try a free 14-day trial! Download Free Trial Stereotypes referred to in this e-book are not representative of actual persons. No IT, software developers, marketing, or sales staff were harmed or hopefully offended in the creation of this e-book. 9

10 About SolarWinds SolarWinds delivers enterprise-level functionality and scale at a price any organization can afford. SolarWinds provides the products you need to manage the performance and availability of your servers, underlying hardware, applications, and Web applications both inside and outside the firewall. On top of that, we offer powerful patch management, remote support, and mobile administration solutions that save valuable time and make your job easier. Visit us at to get your 14-day free trial. 10