9.10 When Users Leave
Only a few people stick around a job forever. There will be many
users that come and go as you are working as an administrator. Some administrators
form relationships with users and others stay as far away from them as possible.
What you choose to do and how you handle or treat your users in the end is entirely
up to you. Depending on the type of industry you administrate, medical, entertainment,
financial, networking, aerospace, or some other industry, if you work as an
administrator and bounce around from job to job as a permanent employee or a
consultant, you are bound to run into some of your old users.
9.10.1 Network with Them!
I am close to some users and co-workers in my community . I know
that some day I may meet up with them in another place or time. It is always
an excellent idea to stay in contact with users in the industry you plan to
work in. If, over time, you get fairly close to users that leave, get any and
all information you can on them and store it for the future. You never know
where or when you may need a contact to help you get your foot in the door when
you are looking for a job.
Because we all bounce around from one company to another, one
thing I like to do is find a book that the company I am working for puts out
or publishes and turn it into a Yearbook similar to the ones we all had when
we were back school. I keep the book in my desk drawer and collect signatures
from those I enjoyed working with when they leave the company. When I eventually
leave the company, I will take it around and have everyone I befriended over
the years sign it. You would be surprised at all those that appreciate you after
they have said goodbye.
9.10.2 Personal Touch
If a user you considered to be one of your perfect users is leaving
the company, see them off and personally explain the corporate policy that pertains
to their files, account, and email. You may be able to pull some kind of special
favors with approval of management. Every environment and company is different.
9.10.3 Account Disabling
Whenever possible, never delete an entire account until management
decides who will be taking over the project files of the user who is leaving.
Disable the account, but don't let it sit and collect dust. It can pose
a security threat. Get it cleaned up and the ID of the old user files migrated
to another user. You can use the find command to find all the files that are
owned by a specific user.
% find /disk2 -user peter -print
After the project files are migrated over, it is a good idea to
archive the old users' home directory and remove the account and the home
directory from the system. Send a tape of the archive to the manager of the
user. If the manager does not want it, store it somewhere safe.
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