Just opened up my MB pro box

I'm giving it a whirl, after 15+ years on a pc, 2 years working with Linux, work has offered to get my a mac so I took the offer.

I work in IT. I spend a lot of time in cisco routers and setting up linux servers... all the nerdy stuff you don't usually associate with a Mac. I might get some black rimmed glasses though...

We'll see how it goes! My boss has been pretty happy with his, aside from some wifi issues... (something about having to put a $ in front of his wifi passkey.)

If anyone has some advice on some good tools for IT pros I'm all ears.

Are you going to install linux or xp using bootcamp? If not I suggest you do.

I have a copy of Parallels here. That acts as an alternative to bootcamp right? Or do I need both?

Parallels is an alternative. Instead of booting up in either OS X or Windows, Parallels lets you emulate Windows, Linux, etc while you're running OS X. VMware works quite well too.

I would wait a while before installing another OS right away. There really isn't much need for it in the beginning.
Get acclimated and fluent with using OS X first.
Then after you are comfortable with OS X, if you decide that you absolutely need a second OS installed, go ahead.