As we approach the New Year, I am getting close to celebrating 20 years of working in IT. In those 20 years, I have been an IT instructor, a desktop technician, a server engineer, Exchange architect, Citrix architect, and have worn any other “IT hat” necessary to ensure that the job is done right. Never a dull moment in the field of Information Technology. It’s always changing and interesting too. As I reflect on those years, and conversations with my peers I would often times be asked how or where do you get your information for troubleshooting issues. As I have reflected on that question, and the answer for me is “wherever the correct answer is”. This means that there is some form of research required, and that the answer could be many places. Possibly through your home lab, at a conference, through online forums where people share their IT issues, whitepapers, a support call, or through the IT Communities to name a few.
As for the IT Communities, you may ask what is that? These are all of those websites and groups of subject matter experts that are willing to share what they think and know. When I think back over the years, it’s these communities that have been invaluable to the learning process in my entire career in IT. So recently I put together a list of really great IT websites that I could refer back to any time, and I wanted to share those with you. This list is full of amazing minds packed full of priceless knowledge in the areas of Microsoft Exchange/Office 365, Citrix and VMWare.
http://24x7itconnection.com/community/
Next time you are talking with your peers and they ask you where you learn all the amazing things about IT that you work with, it’s the IT communities that should be front and center. That being said it’s still your time, effort and research that will help you determine the correct venue for the IT problem at hand.
Happy Troubleshooting!
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