Help Me Name a Team, Win $50

I know all you nerds have a few minutes to help me crowd source the solution to a problem. I’m also willing to offer $50 in the form of an Amazon gift card to someone with the right solution.

We want to rename our group at work. We are currently “Systems Engineering” (abbreviated “SE”). There are a number of decent reasons why we want a different name, and I’m not going to get into that. Let’s just suffice it to say that the change is definitely going to happen in the next week or so.

My group designs, builds, and operates compute & storage infrastructure, for all sizes of customer, and all manner of security level (basic all the way to NIST 800-53 “High”). We provide traditional system administration services. We do VMware, Linux, Windows, Solaris, AIX, Mac OS, everything. We also install & maintain applications for customers, and specialize in automation technologies (Puppet, etc.). We often serve as the people who bridge gaps between other groups, and between vendors and the organization, and are often the glue that holds a solution together.

We don’t do anything but the basics of databases or networking, other groups hold the deep expertise there. Nor do we manage facilities. There is also a separate CISO-led security group so they provide a lot of the policy that drives our designs and operations. And other, large, enterprise-y applications (ERPs, email & calendaring, identity management, etc.) have their own support teams.

Another group formed where I work and calls themselves “CAOS” — pronounced as chaos — and we’re a little jealous of that. We’d like a clever name, too, especially one that sounds like supervillians. So far the best name put forth is simply just “Systems & Application Engineering” or “SAE.” It isn’t bad but I think there’s better out there. At least with SAE we can make viscosity jokes about slow projects for the next decade.

My question to you is: can you come up with a clever, HR-safe acronym & name for this team that reflects what we do?

Put your suggestions in the comments. Quality is good but volume works, too — others might riff on your ideas.

If we pick your suggestion I’ll personally send you a $50 gift card to Amazon (this is me doing this, not my employer). If you aren’t in the USA I’ll see if I can do it in the currency of your choice. If a suggestion is made twice the first one wins it. If no suggestions are chosen I will put all the suggestions in a pool and draw one randomly for the prize, as a thank you for participating. Please make sure your email is correct in the comments!

Ready… go!

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • ICE – infrastructure computer engineers
    SEAL – system engineers & administrators league

  • SAElutions

  • SWAT – Systems Wranglers & Application Tamers

    I’ll come back if I can think of a more serious one….

  • SWAT – Systems Wranglers & Application Tamers

    I’ll come back if I can think of a more serious one…

  • Computing Technology Resources & Logistics (CTRL)

  • English is not my mother tongue, but i’ll try to play this game :)
    DIRTS – Datacenter & InfoRmation Technology Sysadmins

  • You build computing and storage infrastructure; how about Computing and Storage Infrastructure (CSI)? You have a descriptive group name, a decent acronym that is easy to say and can’t be phonetically changed into something cutesy or inappropriate, and you get the CSI riffs. ?

  • SOCCET (Pronounced Socket). C’s could be replaised with Cloud, or any number of things. Though to be quite honest, I rather like CTRL above. You could then call the group CTRL Tower – as in, submit a ticket to CTRL Tower to get that resolved.

    Supporting
    Our
    Company’s
    Compute &
    Other
    Technology

  • ISG – Infrastructure Services Group

  • Some of these are going to be a bit of a stretch in the service of (mildly?) amusing backronyms:

    Automation and Administration of Reliably Engineered Systems (AARES)
    Automation and Computer Engineering Solutions (ACES)
    Administration, Reliability Engineering, and Automation Systems (AREAS)
    Administration of Reliability Engineered Systems (ARES)
    Operational Automation, Systems Infrastructure and Storage (OASIS)
    Storage, Compute & Automation Reliability Engineering (SCARE)
    Storage, Compute & Operations Reliability Engineering (SCORE)
    Systems Engineering and Automation Laboratory (SEAL)
    Systems Engineering and Automation Reliability (SEAR)
    Systems Engineering and Connective Technology (SECT)

  • Infrastructure Engineering and Design (IED)

  • SysOps

  • Systems & Enterprise Application Management

    Systems Infrastructure Management

    Infrastructure Management & Support

    Infrastructure Technology Services

  • RND – Research and development
    DEVOPS – Development and operations

    Both cover what you guys do :-)

  • 3T/Triple T – The Tech Team

  • What stuck out to me with your narrative was your reference to the other enterprise applications having support teams; which maybe is a way of saying other teams are building, integrating, and operating applications, systems, and service models vertically integrated on top of your team’s technology. Assuming that was an intentional method of indicating SE being different in that regard then maybe the name could rif along the lines of “foundation” or “base”. Otherwise, just backronym POST somehow. ;-)

  • Your group designs, builds, and operates compute & storage infrastructure, for all sizes of customer, and all manner of security level (basic all the way to NIST 800-53 “High”). We provide traditional system administration services. We do VMware, Linux, Windows, Solaris, AIX, Mac OS, everything. We also install & maintain applications for customers, and specialize in automation technologies (Puppet, etc.). We often serve as the people who bridge gaps between other groups, and between vendors and the organization, and are often the glue that holds a solution together.

    Believe that your team function cannot fit in an Abbreviation you may use a word explaining your Team

    CORPS – people associated together for a specific/Multi function.

  • Technology, Operations, Applications and Systems Team

    TOAST

  • Masters of Disaster

  • Took up Jesse Thompson’s challenge above:
    POST – Production Operations Support & Technology

    Though I also like CTRL, which seems especially appropriate with the other team being CAOS

  • OASIS = Operations and Applications, Systems Infrastructure Services
    ASSIST = Application, Service, and Systems Infrastructure Support Team
    ISIS = Information Services Infrastructure Support