Organized chaos. That's one way to describe the work of Caroline Dobison
and Mark Strandco -- two management information systems specialists.
Dobison and Strandco's jobs involve getting information out, keeping
folks online and solving the glitches that often happen in a computer environment.
Strandco is the networking specialist in management information systems
at the University of Central Michigan. His job involves "connecting PCs together,
in terms of allowing communications between multiple machines."
That doesn't sound so bad -- unless you consider Strandco is responsible
for a 3,500-node network. "In the course of the summer, we doubled the size
of our network in terms of lines. We're adding another 1,100 additional
nodes in the next six months."
Strandco is hoping he won't have to deal with another flood. "The
building we're in houses the main computer, the main server for campus,
as well as the main connection to Internet access. We're in the basement.
The building itself sits in the middle of a giant bowl, essentially. So every
time it rains, the sewer lines back up and we end up flooding.
"When the flood comes, you shut everything down really quick and hope you
don't take on too much water. Ten years ago, we had about a foot of water
and we were down for about a week."
He'd like to move to a location on higher ground. "The problem is,
the more and more we do in terms of networking, the harder it is to actually
move us because the cost to the university becomes greater. And it's
one of those things we've come to live with," says Strandco. "Classes
just keep on going. In terms of an assignment that might involve the use of
a computer, you either get extensions or labs get swamped -- pardon the pun."
Dobison works for the Region Four Hub Project, a national literacy program.
Much of her time is spent maintaining and updating the web pages she has created.
"Since there are a total of 18 state literacy resource centers and eight
resource centers in our region, keeping all of the information on their web
pages accurate and up to date is a challenge," says Dobison.
Dobison is constantly trying to meet deadlines, and that can be stressful.
"As long as I stay organized, prioritize my assignments and work hard, I manage
to get it all done."
Of course, that's not always easy.
Everything that can go wrong often does. And that is what Strandco and
Dobison love about their jobs.
Strandco admits he's put in a lot of long hours. "There's a lot
that needs to be done in terms of planning, coordination, getting stuff installed,
making sure everything works and just getting everything taken care of. We've
had major things go down and you're scrambling to get things up and going.
That adds a lot of pressure to it."
More than that, Strandco likes the problem-solving aspects of the job.
"You're posed with a problem and you have to figure out what the heck
is going on. You go through it systematically, step by step, eliminate things
and eventually find out what the problem is."
"It's like completing a 500-piece puzzle," says Dobison. "When you
start out, there are all of these bits and pieces and you don't know
what pieces go where. But you start out piecing together the border. Then
you start grouping similar objects together, and slowly you begin to see the
puzzle taking shape.
"Once you've completed the entire puzzle, you have this great feeling
of accomplishment. That's the most exciting part of this job."
Management information systems specialists need more than just computer
smarts to be successful, says Bill Gibbens, a computer consultant.
"Computers are one thing. Business is quite another," he says. "It takes
literally years to become an MIS specialist. You have to have lots of experience
to get into it."
Gibbens himself has had a variety of different jobs in the field, and draws
knowledge from every one of those experiences. "I use almost every aspect
of every career I've ever had. I can use my knowledge and skills from
10 years ago. The computer industry does not discount your previous experience."
He recommends that people interested in becoming an MIS specialist get
some business experience before entering the field -- it won't go to
waste.
"It seems to me there's not an aspect of a person's aptitudes,
creativity, interests, and personality that can't be expressed in the
computer industry."