People Behind the Pipes

1. Describe your job.
I'm one of the District's IT Analysts, and my area of responsibility is primarily as DSRSD’s data center administrator. That includes maintaining the infrastructure of our servers, both physical and virtual. That means when staff members turn on their computer and connect to DSRSD’s system, all of their applications, emails, chats, meetings, and files are there just where they left them. I am also responsible for the backup, restoration, and disaster recovery of District data.

	Information Technology Analyst II Jonathan Penaflor works on a computer in a DSRSD conference room.

2. What do you like best about your job?
To be honest, what I enjoy most about my job is helping people. That has evolved from being a Technician helping people with their computers to presently building and upgrading a computing system that people can rely on for their work. I have enjoyed working at the District because all of my coworkers have generally been great to work with.

3. How did you get into this field?
Since my Commodore 64 and Space Invaders till now, I have always been fascinated by computers. Out of high school I had a job as a data entry person at Prudential Healthcare and I would help people with their computer problems there. They gave me a job helping as a Technician and eventually as their System Administrator before I came to DSRSD as a Technician in 1998. Because the IT shop at the District was very small, I was able to learn a wide array of IT services—one great aspect of working at a smaller agency. I earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of San Francisco, which the District helped me pay for.

4. What is the biggest challenge of your position?
My biggest challenge is deciphering what people need and turning that into something I can provide to them through IT. A big example of that right now is transitioning to Microsoft Office 365. I show staff new productivity tools like Office 365 and try to help them envision ways that they can help their business process, but it’s not always a perfect fit. Implementing new software is a challenge for all agencies, not just the District. For us, this implementation has been sped up and pushed out to staff because of COVID-19 restrictions with about half of our staff working from home. That presents a whole different set of challenges, but in the end new productivity tools help us collaborate more effectively and hopefully evolve our business for the better.

5. How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected your job?
I’m working primarily from home, so I don’t get a lot of requests just walking down the hallway like usual. On the flip side of things, I feel I’m more virtually reachable now through Microsoft Teams that is on my PC and my phone. Working from home with a fifth/sixth-grader in school has been both annoying and rewarding. It has been annoying when she asks me questions out of the blue while I’m working, but when I’m not working, it’s also given me time to delve into her learning process and make sure she’s understanding things.

6. What is something unique about yourself?
After all these years I still enjoy playing video games. My taste in video games, however, has become much more narrow and specific. In the same way that my tastes in books have become more discerning, video games I play must be really well thought out for me to enjoy them. I appreciate a cohesive narrative and great story. Playing video games allow me to take my mind off everything else and focus on a hobby for a while. 

7. What are your favorite foods?
I love pasta. In Rome, I had bucatini carbonara, and I tried to have it every day I was there. For desserts, I love anything creative, but I have to say I love s'mores. I have a recipe book of s'mores at home that I love just flipping through with my daughter, Danielle. Toasted marshmallows are the height of dessert as far as I'm concerned. Danielle and I roast marshmallows over the stove whenever we want a special dessert after dinner.