Intel's IT Manager Game

Intel has this IT Manager game.  Kind of like The Sims, but not as entertaining, unless you are a computer geek I guess.  You play the fearless IT Manager, and you must manage the IT resources of a growing company.  I just discovered it today, and I am ranked 9th in the Asia-Pacific area (don't know why I am ranked in that area.)  Here are a few of the things I picked up.

First of all, don't use a password you use anywhere else since the first thing they do is email you your password in plain text.  I really wish everyone would get a clue and stop transmitting, storing and displaying passwords.  I would have expected Intel to have at least a little bit of a clue about security.  Also, you cannot change any of your settings or start over, but if you do something really dumb you can close the window and it will not save any of your progress today.

I lost 2 workers early on since I couldn't upgrade them to Centrino's quick enough.  You get a new worker everyday.  I guess you could try going to an intermediate system that is better then the no name desktops, but that would take a lot longer to increase your productivity. 

If you deploy anything but a Centrino you must next deploy a network card.  Then you must configure it by deploying an IT Staff member.  This is true for servers, desktops and laptops.  Also you cannot upgrade anything that is not working.  So if one of those no-name desktops fails you must fix it before you put in a laptop.  You will want to jump back and forward between the work area and the meeting area using the little diagram in the corner.  The server room will flash on the map if a server goes down, but for anything else you need to catch it and deploy a staff member.

First of all, buy laptop.  Specifically buy the Centrino one for $1500 a pop.  It is the most expensive one, but results in the best productivity.  Since you cannot resell excess inventory, only but the best, and only buy what you want.  I tried the P4 laptops, with wireless network cards, and I tried the P4 desktops with gigabit Ethernet.  The Centrino's result in the best productivity and greatest happiness.  So this is obviously a marketing ploy since I had a Centrino laptop at work and it was the slowest laptop I have used in ages.  It may just have been something about that laptop, but at this point I would rather have a P4 laptop or desktop. 

You want them to have laptops so they can take them to their meetings, which they seem to spend an inordinate amount of time in.  You want wireless so they can connect to the network.  The gigabit Ethernet seems to give them slightly higher network productivity, but hardly worth the lower stats in the other areas (especially when they are in the meetings). 

Don't bother hiring any staff.  Even with the maximum sized company I still seem to be able to keep everything under control with just the manager.  Occasionally it would be nice to have two people, but that is a very rare occasion.  Staff are hard to keep happy, and expensive.  If you do want staff wait until much later, and be warned, training takes about a week.

Upgrade your servers before noon so you will be sure to have enough money to buy a laptop the next morning.  Put a wireless gateway on each, and also the GbH (or whatever it is) network card.  Don't worry about switches, you won't use them since everything is wireless.

Here is my ranking at number 9 as of this writing: