ACTEnviro

My first "real" IT Job

A view of the ACTEnviro company sign in San Jose

Key facts

  1. 1 Times I appreciated Active Directory.
  2. 250 Number of computers provisioned.

Moving On

Although I enjoyed working at ACT, I decided to take a position offered to me by HRL Laboratories. I had outgrown my position here and I was looking to get more involved in the software, and virtualization side of things. At the time, I thought infrastructure as code was magic that would fix everything.

Lasting Impressions

I gained a healthy respect for tech debt. I already knew that specialized instruments in a scientific lab might be stuck on esoteric versions of Windows and unable to update, but I never anticipated the state of specialized industry software from the 90's. Database admins are the real MVPs of the software world. I also learned about the incredible amount of work that goes into prepping an old building for to be a modern office. My cable management skills did slightly improve, but are not objectively good.

🎶 It's Just Another Day in IT

I found that ACT was a pretty small company. I got to know a lot of the employees really quickly. On the very rare occasion that one of them would be abusive, my awesome boss backed me up.

Shakey Beginnings

I was so ready to get out of the insurance industry that the idea of working level 1 help desk seemed like an improvement. I could not leave. However, I had never had to fix something with a deadline or talk to real people with computer issues. I remember listening to calls during my time at Adecco, but I never worked a call myself.

Meet the team behind this project

  1. Image of Mocha
    Mocha Creative Founder
  2. Image of Mister Mistofflees
    Mister Mistofflees CTO
  3. Image of Makenna
    Makenna Staff
  4. Image of Dr. Linus Meow Pauling
    Dr. Linus Meow Pauling MO Diagram Consultant