The Challenge: Being a manufacturing unit, a majority of the users were not used to remote support. This posed a real problem for me as my wife was expecting our first child and I had to ensure the business functioned seamlessly with the right IT support.
Story:
The year 2020 began as an extremely eventful and happy one for me. I was working for a leading IT Company as 1st level support and had got married in March 2020. But as with everyone else, the pandemic caused a major disruption in my professional life. Owing to the lockdown announced in India, I was laid off from work. This caused quite some stress at home and there was pressure on me to be re-employed. But I was confident of my skills and clear about the profile that I wanted to work with.
Through all this time, however, my main focus at work was on the business goals. My primary priority was to get the new setup sorted based on company plans and demands. Through the entire period I worked on-site. I often worked on the weekends as well because the migration of our servers was done on these days.
I was interviewed for a position at Dana India Pvt. Ltd. in December 2020. I began work on January 1, 2021 and worked briefly at the plant in Hinjewadi. I was soon assigned to work in Chakan where the company was setting up their new plant. The plant in Hinjewadi was small and the company was aiming to have a world-class facility in Chakan. This also meant expectations of the IT infrastructure being upgraded and better.
As System Admin, I was in-charge of ensuring seamless and efficient migration of IT infrastructure. Even under normal working conditions, this is an extensive operation. Working during a pandemic made it that much more challenging.
Much as I would have liked to, I couldn’t opt to work from home. I quickly realised that being a manufacturing unit, a majority of the users were not used to remote support. They needed IT to step in as soon as they reported an issue and expected quick resolutions as well. I also noticed that most users were not following COVID protocol about masks and social distancing.
This posed a real problem for me as my wife was expecting our first child. I realised that I needed to ensure my own safety for myself and my family. I made sure that I implemented all safety measures for myself, especially social distancing when dealing with users. When I got home, I had a bath outside my house as an added precaution to keep my pregnant wife, parents and 3 year-old niece safe.
I have always believed that if you are positive, positive things will happen for you. My advice to everyone, especially through this confusing and scary time, is not to be afraid or be negative.
By April 2021, the second wave had hit us badly and many of my colleagues at work were infected. This included people I closely interacted with. It was a scary time! Towards creating a safer work environment, the company made fortnightly testing compulsory. I continued to take great care of my own safety and I am extremely grateful and relieved that I was never infected. As an added precaution, I also asked my wife to spend the last few months of her pregnancy with her family.
I look forward to continuing to give my best to my job and the company. My wife and my baby girl, who was born in June will be home soon and I’m also looking forward to spending more time with them!