A day in the life with Amy Hanson, Naimuri's IT ops

Our very own lovely IT Ops, Amy Hanson, spoke to Manchester Digital about 'A day in her life' and what her role here at Naimuri entails.

How did you get into your current role?

I came across an ad on LinkedIn, after being in the IT sector for 3+ years. Prior to this, I had worked my way up from an Apprenticeship and then after a year and a half, I made the move to a Solicitor where I picked up invaluable skills needed to progress further in my career. In this role, I learned how to better prioritise my workload, picked up new technologies and also started to show an interest in Cyber Security. Since then I have progressed further in my career with Naimuri, where I have been able to learn new skills in cyber security and also in new technologies I haven’t worked with prior.

What do you enjoy most about working at Naimuri?

The culture here is what I love the most and the ease of being able to up-skill in different areas. Everyone is friendly, always willing to help, and encourages you to learn new skills to help you progress. There is a great opportunity at Naimuri where you are given a budget for up-skilling. At the moment I am focusing on Network+ and Security+ by CompTIA to get a better understanding of the area I wish to specialise in.

What does a typical day look like for you?

A typical day for me includes making sure all users are informed of up-to-date cyber threats out in the wild and ensuring all users are keeping their machines up-to-date and secure. Further to this, I ensure all new starters are set up prior to arrival and are greeted by me when they join. The starter process includes making sure they have relevant access and have a machine ready for them and I also ensure they have a quick brief on what needs doing on their first day - this covers getting to know people and also ensuring they are aware of the importance of Security in our company. I am also in charge of leavers and make sure all relevant assets are returned to us. I also am solely responsible for the asset system, our MDM system and our Antivirus platform. I perform audits of these every few months.

What is it like starting a new job/working remotely during the pandemic?

It has been very odd and at times difficult. When I started Naimuri, it was from home due to the pandemic still being at large. This meant I wasn’t able to meet colleagues in person and instead had to meet people online. This made it a bit difficult to get to know people, but I used this time to get my head down and create a brand-new asset system. When I was eventually allowed into the office, I was shown around and slowly over the months I met more people and got involved in different projects.

What excites you the most about the work at Naimuri?

I like that each day can be completely different and sometimes challenging. I can come in and a new vulnerability could be announced, this will mean I need to focus my attention on making sure everyone is protected and we have the right measures in place to mitigate this. Not only this, but some days I am able to focus on up-skilling which allows me to feel accomplished and able to progress. I am then able to use what I have learned in my role which can prove really useful to help me perform my role properly and more efficiently. Every day is an opportunity to learn.

Have you learned anything new since you started?

I have learned more about cloud systems. As I came from a physical infrastructure background, this was a new thing for me. I had worked with Azure and Intune previously, which works on the cloud, but this was integrated with Active Directory and Group Policy. Going from that to a purely cloud infrastructure has been really interesting and has actually swayed me more to liking Cloud over physical internal infrastructure. The cloud allows us to be fully flexible and makes it easier from an IT perspective if something goes wrong. From my experiences, I have learned how to use Google Workspace on a business level, Mobile device management tools, Apple Business, Cloud-based AV tools and other cloud services.