Nonetheless, I told a couple of people that I needed a new IT support vendor, and a line formed outside my office door almost immediately. So far, I've talked with two of them in detail. And so far I like exactly two of these vendors better than my previous supplier.
IT stuff changes so fast. And I was rethinking my company's IT needs and requirements anyway. We're changing ISP's, building a new web page, rethinking phone systems and implementing some measure of disaster recovery for anything short of an asteroid hitting the earth. My old IT guy knew this was all on the agenda, but I haven't pulled the trigger yet on most of it.
In 2004, I knew the rules. I knew what best practices were for making backups. I could separate real cost/benefit equations from 'smoke and mirror' software that costs alot and doesn't work - in other words separate the Sizzle from the Steak. In the past few years, my response to my IT demise was to abandon my IT Czar role and focus on other activities. I now realize that was a mistake. I still have to authorize the expense, and I can't do that for something I don't understand.
Put all of this together and one has to feel a bit sorry for whoever I choose to fill my IT gap. These guys won't even be able to check free disk space unless I know how, why and so what.
But I'm looking forward to renewing my former expertise.