By Erin MondaI love it when tech companies don’t take themselves too seriously.
Maybe that’s why I <3 Google (News - Alert) & Virgin so very much.
But one of my favorite clients, Ipswitch Inc., just climbed even higher on my list. The network management solutions provider recently held an intriguing contest aimed at recognizing the best system administrator in all the land.
In short, it was kind of like the network management industry’s version of “American Idol.”
The prize? A brand new Apple (News - Alert) iPad.
The stakes had never been higher.
Entrants to the competition had to be system administrators – but they could be employed by any company. All they had to do was submit, in writing, the craziest thing they ever had to do during the course of their jobs.
The competition was run to coincide with the global System Administrator Appreciation Day on Friday, July 30. On that day, which will live on in infamy, Ipswitch (News - Alert) awarded Brian Saunier the distinction of becoming the 2010 SysAdmin All-Star winner.
And the winner was easy to pick. Saunier risked life and limb for his data center. By employing MacGyver-like tactics (using a table, an industrial vacuum, and cardboard), he and his colleagues helped preserve his company’s data center against a flood of encroaching water.
“The bad news was the air conditioning unit was fried, so leaving the door shut meant everything was going to overheat. We decided to build a dam with cardboard and whatever else we could find to try to prevent any water getting in the room, where one of our servers was sitting on the floor,” he explained.
“Our plan was to open the door and run in and pick up the server, which I managed to do without incident, however my colleague tripped over our dam so then I was standing in a flooded server room in two feet of water holding a powered-on server and power cords,” recalled Saunier with a smile. “Luckily he managed to get a table in the room for me to sit the server on which had to stay on for business purposes. We then spent the next few days with an industrial vacuum cleaner trying to get rid of all the water.”
Ipswitch’s network management division certainly appreciated Saunier’s efforts. According to Ennio Carboni, president of the division, “While we are lucky enough to come in contact with many of them through our business, system administrators on the whole rarely get the recognition and respect they deserve for keeping business operations throughout the world up and running 24/7. We felt it was important to support System Administrator Appreciation Day and provide a small token of our appreciation for the work they do. While Brian’s actions were extreme, there is no doubt he went over and above his job description to save his company’s systems.”
Here’s hoping next year’s winners are even more impressive!
