The Challenge: A new year, a new job, a new role, and a disorganized server; 2021 was off to an interesting start. Navigating the twists and turns of the pandemic while trying to get a server up and running from scratch is not a task that everyone can achieve.
Story:
In my earlier position, my job profile was limited to the application front. I would log 14-15 hours on the application front, it was taxing and the at the same time wasn’t helping me grow.
I set out to find a new job that would challenge me and enhance my portfolio. January 2021, amidst the COVID crisis, I grabbed the opportunity to work at Millennium Semiconductors. With over 16 years of experience in IT, I have worked in various domains – shipping, manufacturing, logistics, and so much more. But at Millennium, the true challenge of my profile hit me within the first week on the job. We are a distribution company, box in, box out. My job included assessing how we could leverage technology for end-users and improve business operations.
Keep on challenging and transforming aspects of your life. Your hard work will pay off and appreciation from peers will come.
As soon as I started working, I was introduced to our servers – a convoluted system that was set up by a junior (he did his best). The servers were haywire with frequent downtime and a patchwork fix that was barely holding it all together. My job was to get this server shipshape in 35 days!
The journey was interesting as I had to dig deep into my contacts and reach out to people to get things done quickly. Amid lockdowns, the biggest challenge was getting the server in place. I had to get components shipped from Singapore to set up the server. The second challenge was to set up the entire server remotely. Our offices had not reopened completely, and I had organized the entire setup, servers, racks, etc.
Those 35 days were an exciting experience for me. It was a pleasure to work in a new environment and with a management that supported and trusted your decisions. As I was new to the company, I was also hiring people to grow my team. One thing the pandemic has taught me is that one can achieve more by building a good network of friends and colleagues.
I had to get used to working from home in a short period, become a digitalization influencer and mentor, introduce automation into our workflows, and turn into a recruiter!
Now, things settled down for a couple of months, rigid about digitization, but over the year, creating awareness helped in getting their acceptance.