As a Systems Engineer that means I get involved in a lot of different technical areas.

I’m part of the service desk team.  In essence we are problem solvers – no one ever calls to say “just to let you know everything is working OK”!  When things go quiet with a customer it’s often because we’ve done a good job. The type of support tickets that customers raise can be as simple as an account locked out, or a really technical problem like a failure on a storage array that needs resolved ASAP.

My role also covers customer project work.  Projects I get involved with range from upgrading entire infrastructure systems as part of a systems refresh to regular PC upgrades.  At the moment I’m working on a project for a Local Authority migrating all the websites for their primary and secondary schools back in-house.

Some of the more glamorous assignments I’ve been on have taken me on trips to Brazil and Singapore to assist our oil and gas customers when they refit their vessels.  I had to take all their servers off so the vessels could be refurbished, set them up onshore so the team could continue working as usual and then move them all back on board.  I did get some time to enjoy myself while I was there too.  Spending weeks in shorts and t-shirts in Singapore in December was a far cry from the snow in Inverurie!

I work with all of the Microsoft server technologies, Citrix and Dell hardware and storage to name a few.  It’s unusual to find a role working across such a wide range of the latest technologies.  I am encouraged to complete regular training and keep my certifications up to date.  I really enjoy the variety and always implementing the latest tech.

The most exciting thing as a Systems Engineer is not knowing what the next phone call is going to be about, coming up with a resolution and fixing the problem.