Eric Peterson, Senior IT Manager with Technology Resources, is celebrating a huge milestone: thirty years of service with The University of Texas at Austin. Eric has had a front row seat to the changes in computing on campus, and he has loved it! Much of this time has been spent in the Office of the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President, or one of its prior equivalents.
After a brief period with UT System starting in January 1990, Eric became a Computer Operations Specialist in the machine room, for the Data Processing Department, now called Information Technology Services (ITS). At that time, desktop computers were just word processors or connections to the mainframe, and there were still tons of typewriters on desks. In his position at System, Eric had already been helping people with wiping hard drives, so that move was a perfect fit. Their team kept the mainframe running and delivered printed output. After four years, Eric started to work as a Computer Equipment Maintenance Technician. His first real taste of desktop support came as campus switched from mainframe terminals to “microcomputers” and staff needed emulators on the computer to eliminate the need for mainframe terminals. Eric was a pioneer as this was also some of the first desktop support anywhere on campus. Back then, departments bought computers and had them delivered, and then technicians did all of setup from unboxing to patching to making sure everything ran as intended, so clients could access the mainframe.
Eric officially became a desktop support team member in October 1997 with ITS; he served as the LAN Administrator for Business Affairs, which later became the Chief Financial Officer’s Office. In December 1999, he was promoted to Network Analyst. Around the same time, Eric began his Microsoft Windows training while the business office transitioned from Macintosh computers. This change allowed them to manage computers centrally rather than doing it individually. During this time, he was also the webmaster for Business Affairs and the Budget Office. Desktop support later centralized, and Eric started supporting the Vice President for Financial Affairs as a Network Analyst in May 2003. After he had managed only 58 computers on his own, now a team of four, then three, then two technicians with student support, managed about 350 computers by “making changes that improved inefficiencies.”
With the formation of Technology Resources (TRecs) Desktop Support Services when Darrell Bazzell started, the centralization to support all of Financial and Administrative Services (FAS) was an exciting challenge - from 350 computers to 3500 computers. They additionally support a few units outside of FAS, including Texas Global and the President’s Office. “I have only known Eric for two and a half of those years, but he is a hard-working, intelligent leader that I am proud to work with,” said Assistant Director Stephanie Dussault. “Eric has become a mentor to many of our Desktop Support Specialists, and his knowledge and experience has helped to shape the direction and strategy for desktop support, and I rely on him tremendously.” Leaders like Stephanie and TRecs Director Roy Ruiz are part of what made the transition to his new role so easy for Eric; they share “the same ideals and philosophy…about desktop support.”
Another change over the years has been the push to laptop usage. The percentage of laptops has greatly increased since 2015 - while there were once only a handful, FAS now has about 70% usage, which made the transition to remote work in March easier on staff. The response to COVID-19 was “one of the scariest changes, but exciting at the same time,” said Eric. He and other staff on campus had prepared for disaster situations, and it was a chance to see what technology makes possible.
Eric was on campus before the internet, and has watched things progress all the way to the point of conducting a newsletter interview via streaming video. TRecs recently went through another transition - becoming part of FAS Business Services. All of his colleagues and customers are thankful for his thirty years of service and hope to have him around for many more!
Mary Kemp