Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Week 1 at Union Registrars


Weekly Internship Log Book.

Week 1 (July 10 - 17)

This is my first week and I’m already learning. For my first week my boss was not in the office for the first three days due to ill health therefore I had to network with other staff members in the Information Technology department at Union Registrars Limited . I was trying to figure out in the absence of my boss where I fit in the grand scheme of things. Therefore I went to the IT department's organizational chart and noticed three major sections in the IT department. First was the Network, Security and System Administration. Second was IT operations in charge of data entry of share registers for clients of URL which included Cadbury, 7UP and Ikeja Hotel to mention a few. Third and final Section was the Database Administration and Application Management. My first assignment was to partner with head of IT Operations to get daily advice from the Central Security Clearing System 
First, it was very exciting to learn about what Registrars actually do in the Capital Market. Second, I started browsing the net looking up other affiliates/regulators that URL work with. I came up with a few, which included the Security Exchange Commission(SEC), Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and Nigerian Deposit Insurance Company(NDIC). That’s when I turned my attention to the head of Database Administration who gratefully showed me around the cold room aka the server room. I got to know the two major Internet Service Provider for URL , were 21st Century and Vodacom.  I thanked him telling him how grateful I am for making my job easier. Then I started learning about the Security and Networking Infrastructure put in place for URL.I noticed checkpoint dashboard was used to boost productivity of URL staff by debarring them from going to social media sites like Facebook and twitter until 4PM on working days. From there i saw various consultants come in to remote desktop or we use Team Viewer to connect with a Staff on the field and I was able to see firsthand how networking can really make a difference. That same week, there was a day only myself and one other staff member were on sit in the IT department and I had to  answer the phone schedule appointment and make a log of the person that called. The first person I answered was the Managing Director!  One of the most important things I learnt this week is to talk to my fellow staff members about the IT department. As an Engineering student I was able to answer a lot of questions concerning the IT industry. There were days when I fixed broken regstar application in the front office and other days where I trimmed, crimped and wired RJ45 plug into Ethernet cable (Cat5e and Cat 6). Remember the wires orders are: Orange/white, Orange, Green/White, Blue, Blue/White, Green, Brown/White, and Brown! To cap it all I got to solve a float point issue in Microsoft Visual Studio in preparation for an Annual General Meeting coming up. At the end I really feel good about all the accomplishments this first week.