August 21st is the deadline. The computers (and software, and countless other things) must be ready to use.
Summer time in our department is probably unlike anything a non-educational organization’s IT department must face. It’s a curse and a blessing. We get an opportunity to do large upgrades, taking down servers for multiple days if necessary. We must maintenance every computer (about 1500) to get it ready for the students to use over the next school year. Once the students come back, it’s prime time, the reason we even exist.
But why is that so hard? (more…)