During my first year with CIGNA, management decided to spin off the Health Information Line to a subsidiary company, Intracorp, and I went with it. We moved to a different building, and I managed to move the entire operation, overnight, with zero downtime, using redundant servers and taking advantage of the wizards at the telecom company who switched the WATTs line on command. The planning and execution were challenging, and very rewarding. It was a weekend to remember.

While I was with Intracorp's Health Information Line team, I eventually assembled an intranet, and was among the first to place health information documentation online. When the Intracorp office built a new building, and moved to the new facilities, I was instrumental in supervising the build-out of the LAN, coordinating the move of the network infrastructure, and installation of new switches, routers, and fiber adapters.

A few years later, CIGNA acquired the Intracorp support team, and I rejoined the parent company. During the time that I was with Intracorp, CIGNA had transformed their procedures, and taken on many new and complex processes. This lead to another learning opportunity, and we now produced documents for almost everything we accomplished. We implemented change control, process control, server run books, and the Process Control Manual became our Bible. I had thoroughly enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere that was Intracorp, but what CIGNA now offered was an awakening to how things really should be done.

An opportunity arose for me to move to Pennsylvania and continue my pursuit of the American dream. I joined Matrix Solutions, after a short stint in a contract role, and learned about their proprietary database package. I worked the support desk, and gained valuable insight into the world of media sales. Until that point, I had no idea how television and radio stations became, or remained, successful. If you get a chance, you really should learn about the industry.

When our network administrator left for another opportunity, I jumped at the chance to take over the role, considering this my dream job. I now had individual responsibility for all systems within the entire organization. I was tasked with building new server systems to support a product in development, so it was my responsibility to learn to install, configure, and support these new systems. I also was able to implement exciting new systems, such as Exchange, SQL, Sharepoint, and BOVPNs to accomodate a partnership with another company and their offshore resources. I have had the opportunity to work with vendors, contractors, and customers from all over the country, and I have learned more in the past few years than in all of my prior career.