Network Monitoring and Business Users - Interview With Samuel Egbaiyelo

We asked several questions about their pain points as IT professionals.

Samuel Egbaiyelo is the Security and Business Application Officer at NNPC Retail Limited. We had the chance to ask him some general IT questions. His answers are below.

What new tool would you like to invent to make your job easier and what would it do?

"Basically, invent a tool that can tell me that my network is fine no matter where my location is, which is what WhatsUpGold already does for me. Because if your network is fine then your business is fine. Managing connectivity is also important."

What are the top IT challenges you most commonly face?

"Challenges I face everyday is from the business user end. Because most users are not well educated or not well trained, they do not know how to communicate well to IT.  So most times we get to spend more time trying to address as to what they are trying to communicate and finding ways to understand them. We get a lot of calls because one or two things is down, and particularly it's because they could have pulled out the cable. But we now have the ability to monitor whether or not if it is power related from our location, rather than going to their location to find out exactly what the problem is. If it's a printer issue, I know if it's a paper jam and if it's solved."

If your users could do one thing to make your job easier, what would it be?

"They could find ways to help themselves before escalating an issue to IT. If they can't solve the issue on their own with the help of the materials we've provided them, then they can escalate to IT."

What job related apps do you have on your smartphone?

"I actually monitor my network with WhatsUpGold. I can ping to any device to see if it's up or down."

What communities, blogs, people do you follow to stay informed?

"Basically, I constantly go online to Google. I want to see what is different, what is happening in the markets, what new innovations are out there."

What social media channels (such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, etc.) do you follow to stay current?

"I use LinkedIn. I use it particularly to communicate to my peers in IT, so that we can share our experiences and collaborate. If I fins a solution I will share it with my colleagues and help them so they can share with their colleagues."

Do you still read Dilbert?

"Yes."

Do you think that Jon Snow will come back in Season 6 of Game of Thrones?

"Yes."

Where will you be on December 18, 2015, the day that Star Wars: The Force Awakens comes out?

"Houston, Texas."

What does innovation mean to you?

"Innovation is change that comes with a significant impact."