Inspired by OneGrassRoot: Is Anyone Interested in helping start an IT Co-op?

[Taverner]

That is, cloud services, public and private, hosting, support and helpdesk?

[supernova]

1. and docs and help?

:D You have to make educational materials too.

[Taverner]

2. yes of course - that's my specialty

I may not be a "tech writer" but I've written manuals, white papers, KB articles and when I write them they're clear as a diamond. My Masters is in Journalism, so my first thought when writing is 'will the reader understand this?'

[truedelphi]

17. How long back do you go, in terms of computer stuff

I need some questions answered about my precious Windows 95 system.

Do you free lance?

[Scuba]

3. I'm a good listener.

[Aerows]

4. I'd help on the back end/hosting

I wouldn't do helpdesk or support if my life depended on it.

[Taverner]

5. Give helpdesk/support to the n00bs

Implementation to the gurus

That would be you and me...

[Aerows]

6. Exactly

I have no patience for support/help desk these days - I've been doing it way too long.

Implementation I mean - it's frustrating as hell to deal with people who can barely use a mouse when you are dealing with them as someone working through a DNS issue or a major OS/connectivity issue.

[Taverner]

7. Point is, since we can't unionize, we still have to organize

A Co-Op would be the best way to do that

[Aerows]

8. Agreed

and it's a great idea.

[Occulus]

10. Are you planning on using a service like Go To My PC for support?

I'm all about showing people what's wrong and how to fix it, and that service lets you fix and teach if they want to learn. I've been helping friends with their PCs for years now, and it always makes me smile when people go "OH! THAT'S how you fix it!"

That sort of thing tends to stick in people's minds. I'll happily take their $50 now if it saves them $200 later.

[Taverner]

11. GTMPC, MSTSC, etc...

Whatever works - those are details.

Work those out later

[Occulus]

15. When you say "IT co-op", do you mean support, developers, UI artists...?

I didn't see the other thread, if there was one. Apologies for being dense...

[Taverner]

16. All but the artists

They are usually lone wolves

[RagAss]

9. Wish I knew the technology...Just an old Cobol/IMS/DB2/CICS and MQ mainframer here.

[Taverner]

12. Mainframes not only still exist

They are becoming the core of VDI (virtual desktop initiatives)

[RagAss]

13. Good to hear...I know I stay busy in a Legacy environment.....

Maybe there will be a need for us folks in the future too.

[Taverner]

14. Learn the Hypervisor

Methinks Vmware (who was created by ex-mainframers) will go in this direction.

One mainframe = 20K VDIs

Sounds like great cost savings to me, even if you still have to pay for every other license.