CTG at Work: Daniel S.

Name: Daniel S.

Company Title: Systems Administrator/DevOps

Years at CTG: Almost 2 years coming up in July! Time has passed very quickly.

Hometown: Satellite Beach, FL, very close to our Melbourne, FL, office

Current City: Palm Bay, FL

Favorite Song Right Now:  Either “Crush” or “James Franco” by Polyphia

Favorite thing to do outside of work: Gaming (video and board games)

I start my morning by taking care of my two golden retrievers, Banjo and Nova. Afterwards, I finish getting ready by packing lunch and checking on my AeroGarden (a small indoor garden), and I get into the office at 8 a.m.

I have several things to do every day once I get into the office. The absolute first thing I do is check our server room and network for anything that would indicate an issue is present and resolve it as needed. Afterwards, I check my email for monitoring alerts for issues that aren’t as obvious, such as low disk space on our file server. We also have servers that run our latest software build every night, so I check to make sure that our test servers have installed it properly.

After my daily checks, I work on multiple things throughout the day. Each day is a bit different from the last. Most times, I try to follow a list I use to sort various tasks and issues that need to be worked on or resolved by a certain time, in order of priority. For example, I am currently configuring a virtual machine and testing plugins for our JIRA platform that would enhance some automation capabilities. Since we are focused on software development, issues tend to arise and colleagues will ask for some support.

My evening looks a whole lot like my afternoon—just flows together. But when I end my day, I make sure there are no outstanding issues that need to be resolved before I head out. I make sure I have some tasks planned for the next day, and usually add to the list before leaving for the day.

I like that I have been able to branch out and learn more about software development and automation. My career advice would be to remember what you are really good at—then try to branch out slowly into what interests you most, applying the same techniques you already use. You’ll be more confident and find there is a lot more in common than you think. I’ve learned that a strong team can go a long way. CTG has been very kind and supportive, and I am very thankful to be a part of this team and company.