Bill Murdoch, Information Systems Manager

Different Every Day

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"I enjoy what I do. There's always something different.

"Some days I come into work wearing a suit and tie and other days I come in wearing jeans and a t-shirt because I have to crawl around in the drop ceiling, fishing cables.

"I really don't have a typical day. "

TOC

My Job

MY JOB

Title: Information Systems Manager
Key Tasks & Responsibilities:
- manage IT department
- keep phones, faxes, computers and networks in working order
- manage desktop and telephone support, data network and servers
- troubleshoot hardware and software problems
- find solutions for better customer service and efficiency
- create business cases for new solutions
- manage outsourced IT contractors
Started Job: 2002
Works with:
- dealership staff
- communication and IT consultants
- suppliers
Reports to:
- Company Owner/President TOC

Keeping Current

Keeping Current

I’m always reading books or looking at courses to take to upgrade my skills because things get out of date pretty quickly. I have a library of technical books I’ve picked up over the years that I read in my off time.

I try to read two hours a night and keep up with the latest IT information with newspapers, periodicals and PC World magazine.

TOC

My Contribution

My Contribution

There are about 70 desktops in all and about 100 phones at each dealership. My job is to make sure they're all working and try to improve the system to minimize downtime as much as possible.

After all, if you go in to buy a car you don’t want to hear, 'Our system is down. Sorry we can’t sell you a car right now.' It's up to me to keep that from happening.

TOC

Technical Instinct

Technical Instinct

As you troubleshoot the systems, you see errors and it becomes instinctive about what to look at first. There are usually a lot of little things, but if you know the theory you can generally figure out what the problem is.

TOC

Where I Work

Where I Work

The Dilawri Group, owned by Ashok Dilawri, is made up of five car dealerships; four in Winnipeg and one in Richmond, BC.

In addition to selling new and used cars, each dealership offers after-sales support with a service department, parts department and body shop.

The Dilawri Group employs about 150 people.

TOC

My Territory

My Territory

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"Basically anything within the organization, if it's technical and it breaks, I'm in charge of it; telephone systems, computers, fax machines, photocopiers, anything outside the building such as the web pages, email, internet connection."

TOC

About Me

ABOUT ME

Background
- married with a two year old son
- grew up in Selkirk
- moved to Winnipeg after graduating

Interests/Activities
- spending time with family
- camping, swimming, hiking
- travelling
- coaching and playing sports
TOC

Young Son

Young Son

I have a two-year-old son and I try to spend as much time as I can with him. Once in awhile we'll go camping or swimming but lately that’s about it. Having a two year old can take up a lot of your time!

TOC

Manitoba Roots

Manitoba Roots

My family, one sister and my two parents, is from Selkirk. My dad’s parents live Petersfield and my mom’s parents live in Rossville, about 3 miles south of Norway House, so I grew up visiting and travelling all over Manitoba.

TOC

Four Seasons

Four Seasons

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"Here we actually have seasons. You've got the summer and the spring, the winter. Here we have snow.

"Snow is always good, except when it's minus 40 and then people are saying 'what are you nuts?'

"Family's close. So why am I here? It's comfortable at the moment."

TOC

My Day

MY DAY

9:00 am: Arrive, check email
9:45 am: Move web hosting and email to new server
10:15 am: Break, travel to Toyota site
11:00 am: Repair fax machine at Toyota site
12:00 pm: Lunch
1:00 pm: Meet with managers re-Customer Relations Management product
2:00 pm: Develop used car list with two additional categories
2:30 pm: Follow up on previous day's repairs
3:00 pm: Replace floppy drives in sales dept computers
3:30 pm: Enable access permissions for new sales staff
4:00 pm: Study new promotional material
4:15 pm: Phone suppliers, order software
4:30 pm: Go home! TOC

Hectic Pace

Hectic Pace

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"If something blows up at two different sites at the same time, then it can be very hectic.

"Then you're rushing to fix one site so you can get to the other site and fix it, or at least get one site stable: stable enough you can leave and go fix the other site."

TOC

One Man Department

One Man Department

Given the company’s size and that essentially I’m the entire Information Technology department, most people understand that there’s a lot for me to do.

When they call me with a problem, I usually figure out how long it’ll take me to fix it and double the estimate. I’ll tell them it will take me half an hour, when it'll only take me about fifteen minutes.

That way when I get done early, they'll think I’m doing well.

TOC

Flexible Schedule

Flexible Schedule

My schedule is flexible, so my days can start anywhere from 3am to 10am. Sometimes I get an early start because I can get more done when there’s no one around.

If I start early, I leave early and if I work until midnight, you can bet I’ll be in late the next morning.

For the most part, I take an average 8-hour day and spread it over 12 hours by taking breaks here and there.

TOC

Working Independently

Working Independently

It’s a small business, so I do a lot of the work myself. I consult with my boss and for some things he'll just say, ‘Go ahead and do it and tell me what you did'.

It’s not like in a large company where you have to go through a chain of command, and that's nice. I don’t really have to depend on a lot of people to get the job done.

TOC

Working Locations

Working Locations

When something breaks, they page me. Sometimes I can troubleshoot over the phone and other times I need to go to the site and check things out, regardless of when it happens.

When everything's working well, I’ll find a quiet space at one of the sites or work from home, especially if I’m reading material or working on reports, business plans or web page development.

TOC

Me and My Job

ME AND MY JOB

Likes
- using my programming skills
- working with new technology
- every day is different

Challenges
- building business cases
- explaining technical things in plain English
- settling for small in technology purchases
TOC

Lots of Changes

Lots of Changes

There have been substantial changes since I took over. When I came on board, the network set-up was in disarray. I stabilized it so it won't crash any more and rebuilt the company’s custom application to make it run faster.

I usually have what’s needed for a project but if there’s a skill set I don’t have, I’ll outsource it. I'll also consult with people that I know and trust in the industry to get their input and advice.

TOC

Deliberate Learner

Deliberate Learner

I’ve always wondered how some people are able to be "quick studies". It takes me a while to learn some of the really technical stuff. I'll read it two or three times before I understand it fully.

Once I’ve learned it, my technical aptitude makes it easier to problem solve and troubleshoot.

TOC

Calm and Cool

Calm and Cool

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"I don't really let stuff get to me. It takes a lot for anything to get to me. Stuff breaks - it happens. People will be yelling at me, you know, 'fix this', 'fix this,' 'need this done now'.

"I, myself, have been in positions where I needed something to work and I had deadlines to meet. So I understand where the end user's coming from.

"At the same time, if I panic and I let it get to me, then the problem won't get solved."

TOC

Business Cases

Business Cases

I need to look at both current and future needs of the workstations. Sometimes there are cheaper, short-term solutions that meet the immediate needs but cost more money in the long run.

Building a business case to show the return on investment can be challenging. I need to show that spending $1500 instead of $800 on a machine can save say, 6 minutes a day and mean $1900 in savings over the life of the machine.

TOC

Varied Perspective

Varied Perspective

I often need to put a microscope on stuff to get down to the nitty gritty and figure out exactly how to fix something. The owner always has his finger on the big picture and so I have to keep that picture in mind too.

I need the 30,000 foot view to see how things fit together as well as the closer view to make the right decisions. This applies to everything from choosing a new server to buying new keyboards.

TOC

My Resume

MY RESUME

Education
2003: Cisco 1 & 2, Winnipeg Technical College
2002: Various Programming Courses
2000: Computer Programming, Midwestern
1999: Network Engineering, Midwestern
1999: Quality Management Course
1998: Business Information Systems, Herzing
1997-2001: Customer Service/Relations courses
1994: High School Diploma (Computer Aided Drafting-Honours, Science), Lord Selkirk RCSS

Experience
2002-Present: Manager of Information Systems, Dilawri Group
2002: Management, Convergys Customer Care
1999-2001: Self-employed Consultant, B. Murdoch Consultants
1996-1999: Reports Clerk, Convergys Customer Care
TOC

Advice

Advice

My advice for getting into this job would be to:
- make sure you have university entrance math skills
- learn the basic technical theories
- go to college, take extra courses and read a lot
- develop good writing and spelling skills
- get experience in working with people
- be patient with yourself and your work and
- build your own mentoring network

TOC

Tuition

Tuition

When I was first starting out, I made a deal with a company that wanted me to build a contact management database for them: I would build their database and they would pay for a programming course I needed to take.

I’ve paid for some training classes and others have been paid by either employers or, because I have Treaty Status, the Local Area Management Board. They paid for my networking program.

TOC

Theory and Terminology

Theory and Terminology

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"Probably one of the biggest benefits of going to a technical college or university, is just simply knowing the terminology.

"If somebody asks you 'what's the difference between a proxy and a firewall?' Well you could get that out of a book, yes, but it would probably take you a lot of reading to find the difference."

TOC

Heads or Tails

Heads or Tails

In high school, I was planning to be an architect. I was using a program called AutoCAD, with pull down menus that you can program. That’s how I got interested in programming.

I took business information systems in college because it touched on programming and other technical areas. Part of the course was networking and the other part programming. I flipped a coin to decide which to take next.

Computer networking was heads.

TOC

Hiring For My Job

Hiring For My Job

If I were hiring for my job, I would look for someone with:
- hardware, software and networking skills
- a basic understanding of programming
- a broad knowledge of the computer industry
- an understanding of business environments
- some experience in web page design.

I would also want someone who is willing and able to spend time to learn and research.

TOC

My Future

MY FUTURE

In ten years, I can see myself managing others while doing something that melds computer networking and computer programming together, perhaps working with the Internet.

It’s hard to say because everything’s sort of overlapping at the moment. Whatever I'm doing though, will definitely be something in information technology. TOC

Occupation’s Future

Occupation’s Future

It’s pretty difficult to get into networking right now in Manitoba. A lot of businesses simply don’t want to hire full time staff so they hire other companies to manage their network.

Working for a company that manages other peoples’ networks would be a good direction for graduates to look at. They might also think of starting their own business and contract out to other companies.

TOC

Education Goals

Education Goals

I’m looking at the U of M’s Computer Science Program. I’ve also heard about a business program at Red River though I haven’t done any research on it yet. I might also look at taking a couple of courses on law at U of W.

There are lots of opportunities out there. Once I figure out what I want to be when I grow up, I’ll start someplace and take something.

TOC

My Goals

My Goals

(TEXT FROM SOUND BITE)

"Basically my goal is to always strive to work myself out of a job, as odd as that may seem. So if I get the network to a point where I'm no longer needed as a network person, well there's programming, there's web site development. Then as systems break I go in there and fix them.

"I think it'll probably take about five years to get to a point where I won't spend as much of my time on the network. I'll be doing other things for the company."

TOC

Programmer’s Outlook

Programmer’s Outlook

Web based .NET applications, which are independent of the operating system and use more resources on a server, are becoming more common.

It's likely that in a couple of years "voice over IP" will hit big too. Eventually our call centre will be online as we integrate phone and Internet technology.

Much of the .NET environment is targeting the cellular and satellite networks so you could write programs that’ll work on a web browser for a desktop, PDA or even a cell phone.

TOC

Useful Links

MORE INFO

Virtually every business relies on computers to make things more efficient and requires the support of an IT professional at some point.

Most people in the IT field have a college diploma or university degree.

Like Bill, most people also have:
- a passion for technology and ongoing learning
- strong oral and written communication skills
- the ability to prioritize and multi-task

On-the-job experience and further training can open new doors for management or launching a consulting business. TOC

Job Market Info

Job Market Info

The links below take you to federal and regional government information on employment, education, salary ranges and long-range prospects for this career.

The official name for Bill’s occupation is 'Computer and Information Systems Manager' and its *NOC code is 0213.

Job Futures

Manitoba Labour Market Information
(Select Manitoba, the Area in Manitoba, NOC code 0213, then click Search)

Human Resources Development Canada

*Each occupation has an official name and unique number called the ‘National Occupational Classification’ code or 'NOC'.

TOC

Education

Education

Useful High School Subjects*

- Math
- Physics
- Computer Science
- English

*Source: Job Futures.ca

Below are links to programs and courses in Computer and Information Systems.

University of Manitoba
Computer Science

Red River College
Full Time Programs
Then search the index for:
- Electronic and Network Technician
- Information Systems Technology
- Introduction to CAP/IST
- Technology Management

Winnipeg Technical College
E-Commerce Developer
Microcomputer Systems Technician
Network Support Technician

Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface
Les programmes techniques et professionnels

Brandon University
Mathematics & Computer Science

Assiniboine Community College - Brandon
Information Technologies Division
(See pages 171-194 of the pdf)

Keewatin Community College - The Pas/Thompson
Electrical and Computer Technology
(See page 52 of the pdf)

Herzing College
Computer Training Schools
(Scroll down to read about different programs)

TOC

Related Careers

Related Careers

Other related careers from the Human Resources Development Canada web site:

Information Systems Analysts and Consultants (NOC 2171)

Database Analysts and Data Administrators (NOC 2172)

Software Engineers (NOC 2173)

Computer Programmers and Interactive Media Developers (NOC 2174)

TOC

Professional Associations

Professional Associations

Manitoba Aboriginal Youth Awareness Committee
- provides career planning, mentoring and work experiences for Aboriginal Youth

Experts Exchange
- networking site for IT professionals

Information Systems Audit and Control Association - Winnipeg Chapter
- provides education and professional development for IS audit and control communities

Manitoba Innovation Network
- focuses on creating economic development through information technology

Smart Winnipeg
- works to create technically enabled communities

Canadian Information Processing Society
- for Information Technology professionals

Institute for Information Technology
- government institute that focuses on information technology research and development

Society for Canadian Women in Science and Technology
- support to women in science and technology

Wired Women
- offers support to women in technology

TOC