IT Project Manager Ian Craig
Describe your role as IT Project Manager at Questar III.
IT Project Manager is an exciting role because, to me, it fuses together a number of diverse and interesting responsibilities into a unique position which opens new doors for Questar and component districts alike. As you might guess from the title, it includes planning and execution of needed technology projects in a timely and cost-effective manner. However, I also bring specialization in security as well as Apple products to this position.
What is your background and what led you to a career in IT?
I’m a local who has lived in the Questar region my whole life. My wife and daughter are central to my motivation to try to accomplish as much good as I can. When I was younger, I had a minor interest in technology but didn’t start to adopt a serious view of it until the end of High School when I concluded that computer science would be a practical and interesting field to work in. After earning a degree in computer science and beginning to gain more hands-on experience in IT, I quickly came to realize how little I know and how much there is to learn. That realization keeps me challenged and passionate about what I do. To this day, I keep finding new things to explore or to better understand the subtleties of, and then see how they can be applied to the benefit of our students. It’s amazing.
What do you like most about your job?
I’m going to list several things in no particular order, because I can’t settle on just one thing. I definitely enjoy seeing students and staff benefit directly from technology solutions we build for them. From a security perspective, I also appreciate that we are in a unique position to protect students and staff. Finally, I enjoy all occasions when I can show leadership, and use it to strengthen our team.
You’re a certified ethical hacker – what does that mean and how do you use those skills here?
EC-Council’s CEH program verifies the skills needed to engage in penetration testing – a proactive security practice that has the ultimate goal of making organizations safer and more resistant to hackers and other malicious parties. The “E” in CEH is important, because the required skills and techniques are the same that malicious hackers would use for their unsavory purposes, but the ethical nature of our work dictates that we use these skills to find and report security weaknesses so they can be bolstered before a person with ill intent can discover them and take advantage of them. We must also conduct our work in a manner that dignifies and shows respect for the organization we are assisting.
At Questar, these skills are very helpful for strengthening our own defenses. Malicious threats grow in number and intensity every day, so it’s a good thing to be able to look at our systems under the same lens as one who would seek to do harm to our students and staff, and then make needed adjustments to prevent adversaries from succeeding.
We’ve recently started offering more IT services to our districts (cybersecurity training, phishing campaigns, technology assessments, etc.). Why are these important things for our districts to consider?
In the past, school districts may have been perceived as less of a hacker target than, say, an organization like a bank. With that mindset came the conclusion that security may not need to be quite that high of a priority for a school’s technology initiative. Sadly, hackers have shown that they don’t care who they are targeting as long as they stand to profit from their efforts. This has been seen in the troubling uptick of cyberattacks aimed at educational institutions. How despicable and cowardly of criminals to be going after the information of not just staff, but students! This unfortunate reality calls for us to have a renewed sense of urgency to keep our students safe from all threats – including digital ones.
These specialized IT services can offer a district the security assistance they need to help keep their students safe, at a far more budget-friendly price point when compared to alternative options. If, previously, certain essential security services were simply beyond the reach of a district for financial reasons, they may now be able to access them at a more modest cost through the BOCES, ensuring that all students are afforded the protection they deserve.
Tell us a little about your life outside of Questar III (hobbies, unique stories, etc.)
I’ve been an avid coffee drinker ever since my first 8 AM programming class in college. Since then, I’ve enjoyed trying many different types of coffee and different ways to brew them. I’ve never gotten to the point of roasting my own beans, but hopefully I’ll get to try that someday.
My wife recently bought me a Chemex Coffeemaker and it’s changed the way I view pour over coffee. Also, I really enjoy cold brew coffee. My personal opinion: you’ve got to drink it in a nice pint glass for maximum enjoyment. Does this make me a coffee snob? Perhaps.
