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Weekly Journals

First Week: (January 18 – January 22, 2015)

During the first week of my work at SMC, I gathered elaborated information about the emerging

of the MIS & IT department within the organization. Most importantly the working environment

here taught me to be more corporate than being casual as it was in the University premises.

Moreover, the basic things regarding MIS & IT department which were learnt are:

Receiving and saving daily sales data using mail servers from different Area Offices.

Transferring the data from the Received folder to the database.

Checking and rechecking the database if it was updated properly.

Troubleshooting errors in IMIS platform.

User end support including network, hardware and other software related issues.

Backing up the weekly sales data to the central server from CD drives.

It is a daily job to store and backup the daily reports on sales, procurements and HR on the server

having proper references. Manual updates and backups of the weekly data are equally important

to make sure that no errors are occurred. In addition to backing up and storing these data, providing

support to any users who face difficulties during the operation of their technical works are of one

of the most prioritized tasks here along with other hardware and software solutions including

network related issues.

It has been a great week of work and learning experiences in my first corporate life in the

organization SMC. I am looking forward to learn as much as I can from the seniors; co-workers

and other employees and I will dedicate all my time here to gather as much knowledge as I can

from the practical work field.

Findings during the First Week:

Some findings from my point of view during the first week are:

The procurement process is a lengthy for a regular operational company like SMC.

MIS & IT department holds the major functionality within the organization but it has fewer

or reserved facilities in terms of spaces for the department, arrangements of the staff-desk

placements and number of expert officials to manage and operate.

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Second Week: (January 25 – January 29, 2015)

Experiences kept on growing further and further as my work durations were increasing. Newer

things along with corporate behaviors and corporate policies were learnt. Few of the tasks that

were performed during the second week were:

Configuring user accounts with user privileges and administrative accounts on MS

Windows 8 and 8.1.

Setting up privacy securities and privileges for user accounts on MS Windows 8.

Configuring network settings.

Configuring Remote Desktop connections from administrator accounts and through user

end operations.

Copying preconfigured user profiles from one Hard Disc Drive to another one.

Setting up and configuring all the setting of new brand PCs (HP/Dell) for new sets of users.

Month end data entry records in the database server based on e-mail and telephone

confirmation from every Area Offices.

Hardware and software troubleshooting.

During the end of the month all the Area Offices are to send the confirmation messages of their

completion of data entry of sales and other inventory related factors. Based on their confirmation;

either via emails or through telephones the completed data has to be updated on the central server

which would be used for forecasting and data analysis during the month-end meeting of the senior

management.

Operations of the “Indent” procedure for the inventory and the required materials for regular office

operations are also shown for the matter of ease. The procedures are performed using the same

database management software, Integrated Management Information Systems (IMIS) which is

also used for more than many other official record keepings and day to day operations of SMC

Head Office along with other zonal offices.

Findings during the Second Week:

Few of the major findings from my work placement during the second week are:

The entry and exit process for the regular employee are not flexible and often causes queues

during rush hours.

Communication between other departments and MIS & IT department is not good enough

to keep the organizational operations up-to-date.

MIS & IT department is not “One” Separate entity within this organization; rather it is

merged with the Finance division as well.

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Very little space for the IT operations to conduct the Hardware related troubleshooting

efficiently and effectively.

Third Week: (February 1 – February 5, 2015)

During the third week of my work in SMC it was a rushing environment for my position of work

as many of the Program Divisional Computers from various areas came up with different

functional issues to be fixed within a short length of time. During the week the following tasks

were undergone:

Assessing the hardware components of the computers arrived from the zonal operations of

Program Division and providing feedback of those.

Troubleshooting the possible problems of the Computers and re-setting the systems up.

Providing the list of hardware needed to repair the computers based on the assessment

conducted on the computers.

Including the computers data within the database and integrating the systems with IMIS

central database.

Setting up e-mail addresses for the users of the computers provided by the SMC domain.

Along with these tasks, it was also mandatory to provide stand by user end support for the Head

Office operations. Among these operations replacing printer tonners/ cartridges, providing

network supports, various software related troubleshoots were to be mentioned.

Findings during the Third Week:

From the works and issues faced during the second week, the followings are of importance:

Lack of user guidelines for the users of the Program Division zonal offices.

Lack of communication in between the departments (MIS & IT and Program Division

especially).

No classified vendor for on-spot computer hardware components support on credit terms.

Local “all from one” vendors of the hardware components; who are actually stationary

items’ sellers, are to some extent “expensive” which could be affecting for the organization.

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Fourth Week: (February 8 – February 12, 2015)

Moving on to the next week of my work in SMC as an intern in Finance, MIS & IT Division, more

and more tasks are to be learnt and much were already learnt through the operational process.

During the fourth week of my work here, it was still rush for the incoming computers from the

zonal offices to be repaired and at the end of the week much more interesting tasks were assigned.

The tasks during the week were:

Assessing and troubleshooting the incoming computers from the zonal operational offices

of SMC Program Division. (HIV-Clinic)

Setting up the computers properly with the user privileges and providing those users with

e-mail id to keep regular updates from the IMIS.

Providing network support on the second floor of the building where few of the

departments are to be shifted. Network supports included-

Cabling the floor

Placing the RJ45 connectors with the cables

Checking the existing modulars for functionality

Checking the functionality of the connections of the network on the floor

Providing online connections with the central server to the network on the

floor

Connecting the on-floor networks to the server on the 6th floor using bridge

connection on a 24 port switch

Rechecking the connections of all the workstations to be connected.

Findings during the Fourth Week:

Fourth week of my work at this organization, few of the following findings are to be noticed:

Fewer or no IT technicians for laboring works as handling the hard-works (i.e. cleaning the

hardware to be used for works etc.) are not usually practiced within this organization.

Effective but not so efficient task takers.

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Fifth Week: (February 15 – February 19, 2015)

During the Fifth Week of my work at SMC, I continued giving the most of what I know to the

works and simultaneously tried learning as much as possible from the corporate environment.

Every day I check into the office premises, I find something new to learn and something new to

provide for the organization. Among the tasks performed during the week the followings are the

most noticeable:

Writing the assessments for the incoming PCs from HIV-ESP Clinics of SMC Programs

Division and sending them to the supervisor for further instructions.

Keeping a daily record of the receipt and completion of the troubleshooting for the

components.

Learning newer things about Network cabling and setups/ configurations.

Learning to configure network printer from remote computer to client computer.

Learnt to prepare “Conveyance Bills” for the holiday’s works in the office.

Observing and learning the corporate structures, whistle-blowing environments, chain of

commands and few other management related matters.

Providing user-end supports for newer problems related to the network configurations on

the 2nd floor.

Understanding the procurement procedure and keeping a good pace with the indent-

procurement-receipt cycle.

Had an experience of working alone (the attachment officer had a sick call that day) on

the office desk and providing support to the user-ends without any supervision of the

attachment officer and it went all good as there were no objections from the users and the

supervisors.

Configuring MS Outlook associating the new e-mail address provided by SMC MIS&IT

department and locating the e-mail server within.

Had a brief understanding of the financial procedures which is also associated with the

Procurement, Administration, Sales & Marketing and also the Program Division in this

organization.

Watched and tried to learn the configuration setup for the IP Phones, which refers to the

correct allotment of the IP blocks from the network, setting the IP configurations from

the network configuration utility of the IP Telephone menu etc.

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Findings during the Fifth Week:

From my point of view, the few findings and feedback out of my work at fifth week are:

Vague instructions to the assisting Area Offices about IT operations

No proper access into few of the materials of IT resources to perform troubleshoots and

supports singlehandedly.

Fewer resources to perform large number of supporting activities within a short length of

time.

No proper balance of effectiveness and efficiency within the departmental officials of the

organization.

Sixth Week: (February 22 – February 26, 2015)

Continuing to the sixth week of my internship in SMC, the regular tasks continued along with

few newer things to learn about. Some of the tasks completed during the week are:

Continuing servicing and repairing the incoming Computer systems from different zonal

offices of HIV-ESP Integrated Clinics.

Assessment on a regular basis for those Computer systems were to be provided based on

the components needed and the servicing tasks required.

A bit deeper knowledge about the IMIS software was gained from watching the superiors

operating the regular usages of the software.

Providing the in-office user-end support continued.

Providing support to the different area offices using “Team Viewer” software.

Tried to focus on the management of the Information Systems within the official

purposes and the allotment of resources of the MIS & IT Department.

Findings during the Sixth Week:

Few findings and feedback out of my work during the Sixth week are:

Proper balance of Effectiveness and Efficiency is needed within the departments for

smooth and flawless work environment.

Proper chain of command is required for avoiding few unwanted matters.

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Seventh Week: (March 01 – March 05, 2015)

During the seventh week of my work performed in SMC as an intern, I have learnt some more

official, managerial codes of conducts along with the basic IT related factors. Continuing to the

tasks assigned to me as an intern here I am happily and effectively trying to perform my duties as

efficiently as possible. Among the tasks completed during the week, the followings are noticeable:

Daily user-end support within the Head Office premises.

Standby support for any problems faced within the area offices and the zonal offices of

HIV-ESP Integrated Clinic of Program Division.

Assessing the problematic computers of HIV-ESP Integrated Clinic; inbound for repairs.

Tried to focus on the server configurations and the procedures while watching the

superiors troubleshooting the server.

A little bit understanding on the data entry methods of the area sales officers.

Understanding more about the managerial processes and the allocation of IT resources

within the organization.

More experiences and knowledge about organizational behaviors and conducts as the

official environment taught me.

Findings during the Seventh Week:

Few of the findings from my point of view are:

The organization believes in providing authentic software products. But there are few

cases where providing authentic software products become difficult and expensive.

More open ended cooperation from the superiors, subordinates and colleagues are

expected.

A very little scope for expanding knowledge on different disciplines as the corporate

structure stands very strict.

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Eighth Week: (March 08 – March 12, 2015)

Along with learning day to day activities of the corporation and specially the IT related issues, I

have come to learn many more things during these days. Among these new and special

opportunities, interviewing new employees and assessing the test results are notable. Few of the

common things learnt and conducted are as follows:

Providing User-end supports regarding network issues, printer related problems and yet

many more other issues.

Learning the different server assemblies, i.e. mail server, anti-virus server, domain server

etc.

Adding new user IDs and their mail addresses to the printer on the stated floors.

Providing basic operational knowledge to few of the employees to scan and mail the

scanned images/pdf files to their mailing addresses.

Troubleshooting computer systems from the superiors and specially the conducts and

mannerisms regarding the time and work.

Troubleshooting the projector and network connections on different meeting rooms.

Troubleshooting problems regarding fonts in Adobe Illustrator programs.

Understanding the breakdown of the organization into SMC Enterprise Ltd which is a

“For-Profit” sub-organization for self-sustainability.

Understanding the basic organogram of the whole organization as an entity.

Findings during the Eighth Week:

Few of the following findings are notable during the 8th week of my work at SMC as an Intern:

There is a very little scope for the new comers to learn newer things relevant to the

operations of the organization.

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Ninth Week: (March 15 – March 19, 2015)

Working as an intern in SMC is a great opportunity for me to initiate my career opportunities

pushing my limits to further boundaries and learning newer things regularly. My presence in the

office every day brings me the hope and opportunity to learn something new within the line of

work. Few of the notable incidents and works I have done during the week are –

Creating new log-on profile for the newly recruited employees for their personal usages

and official works.

Maintaining a good cooperative relationship among the employees and also the

subordinates and supervisors.

Network Scanner setup for the “to-be enlisted” employees.

Composing articles requested by the MD of the organization.

Checking and assessing the newly bought DVD players for training purposes and

awareness programs.

Providing user-end support for IT related issues.

Configuring user’s email databases and updating their contacts lists as per company

provided lists.

Tried to learn few things regarding the new “Leave Management Systems” which is yet

to be launched and to be functional.

Tried to gather as much information and knowledge as possible on the existing database

management systems – IMIS.

Coming out of the box, I looked forward and tried to learn about the financial

management and the accounts management systems.

Focusing on the corporate behaviors and codes of conducts I tried to learn about the

events and memorandum notices of the organization.

Findings during the Ninth Week:

There are a few things to be noticed during my 9th week of work at SMC –

Some/ Few of the employees take IT officers as only service people and treat them

accordingly, which is demoralizing for the officials providing IT support.

Lesser spaces and scopes for hardware assembling and storing.

The “off-the-book” codes of conducts restrict the IT Officials to perform some activities

which takes much more time to complete due to lack of labors.

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Tenth Week: (March 22 – March 25, 2015)

As the duration of my internship at SMC grows, the experiences and knowledge also follows the

same path. All along the 9 weeks I have acquired lots of knowledge and lots of newer

experiences which would definitely help me on the work field during my job life. It is to mention

that, every new day in SMC comes with newer things to learn. During the 10th week of my

internship, the following tasks and activities are to be noticed:

IMIS data backup from CD/DVD to the central server database.

Providing one stop support to the users of the building.

Troubleshooting PCs and other IT/Network related issues.

Inputting the new employees’ ID Cards in to the attendance machine for electronic

management of their entry and exit.

Matching the Inputted ID Card numbers with the employees’ actual identities and

fingerprints for fingerprint recognition.

Configuring SMC domain provided email for new employees.

Checking and troubleshooting UPS related issues.

Checking and troubleshooting Printer related issues for different users.

Providing support and troubleshooting for Board Room Projector.

Setting up network printers for new employees and enrolling their ID, Names and email

addresses into the printers.

Troubleshooting new problems arisen with the recently serviced computer system for

newer problems and solutions for them.

Tried to learn to troubleshoot damaged/password protected/write protected HDD

recovered from a laptop.

Continuing to try and learn more about database management systems and proper

resource allocation management for the MIS & IT department.

Findings during the Tenth Week:

Few critiques according to my viewpoints are:

Not enough/any backup computer hardware systems for the officers who need to use the

computer the whole time for their job duties.

Insufficient IT resources to perform large scale of repairing tasks.

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Eleventh Week: (March29 – April 02, 2015)

Days pass by along with an extensive increase in my experience folder for working in an

organization as large as SMC and at the same time my internship period begins to come to an

end. I have only 2 more weeks representing 10 working days left for working as an intern at

SMC. But the experience basket of mine keeps on increasing on a greater flow. Few of the major

notable incidents and tasks during this week are as follows:

Providing day to day user end support within the SMC building premises.

Providing IT support for various issues even outside of the premises where important

meetings are to be held.

Running spontaneous checks on the existing computer systems of the organization.

Learning about the interface of the organizational database management system: IMIS.

Learning about codes of conducts while providing IT support to the superiors.

Helping out colleagues and employees with various difficulties during free times.

Managing the situations created by sudden rain fall and water flows within the rooms

which could have damaged the electronic systems.

Organizing a large quantity of user requests and providing support according to urgency

and priority basis.

Little amount of book keeping regarding the IT resources of SMC.

Counseling the employees having issues regarding IT equipment and providing them

support based on availability of the resources.

Coordination with the co-workers and superiors for better work environment.

Learning the process of the new leave management systems launched a week ago.

Findings during the Eleventh Week:

Few of the findings and critiques on my view point are stated below:

The MIS & IT department is not a solely separate entity within this organization which

could affect many important decision making and procurement process when necessary.

Less staffs and experts available for the area offices for the IT issues makes the support

more complicated.

Not enough authority and privileges for the supporting IT-Officer to provide one-stop

service to the users all the time.

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Twelfth Week: (April 05 – April 09, 2015)

During the week I have learnt few new and interesting things and the management protocols and

reasoning strategy behind the decisions been taken. The notable incidents and experiences

gathered during this week are as follows:

Providing user end support on a daily basis

Learnt new tricks and tactics for printer troubleshooting.

Tried to concentrate a bit on priority management strategy.

Troubleshooting meeting room laptops and computers along with the network and

projector setup within a short amount of time.

Learning about POP3 e-mail servers and IMAP e-mail servers and their differences.

Learnt the reasons behind providing POP3 services to the employees of SMC instead of

IMAP.

Cabling the network connections and preparing the network cables for the connections

for board room laptops and projectors.

Learned about managing office time for different work schedules and proper work

management.

Learned about providing support as an IT-Officer alone as my supporting IT officer was

on a leave once this week.

Depending on the priority, few major services for the users e.g. network troubleshoot,

printer troubleshoot, pc hardware and software troubleshoot etc. are provided.

IMIS errors and their relevant troubleshoot processes are learnt.

Findings during the Twelfth Week:

The organization does not provide the users with the newest IT platforms and technological

features competing with the modern organizational pace (POP3-IMAP) regarding the reasons of

users’ needs and requirements.

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The IMIS Interface (Graphical)

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Comments

Md. Abu Bakkar Khan Chowdhury

Sr. Systems Executive

Md. Giash Uddin

Manager, MIS & IT

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Mr. Mofijul Haque Khan

Sr. Systems Executive

Md. Ruhul Amin

Finance Executive

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Mr. Shameem Akanda

Executive Graphics Design,

SMC-EL