Working too hard could kill

Working very hard brute-forcing a problem is detrimental to your health, even for this poor beaver. (I am referring to the poor furry animal crushed by the tree in the accompanying photo and not an MIT graduate, who I assume, would tackle a problem with grace and wit, not brute force.) 

All joking aside, brute force seems to be the de facto technique some IT organizations are using to tackle Web application performance problems.  Check the table below for the symptoms of reactive thinking.  Which camp are you in?

Reactive IT	Proactive IT
Learns about service disruptions after users complain.	Uses Application QoS tools and techniques to find problems before users call.
Projects application performance based on business volume.  For example, if sales are $N by 10 am, the application is probably working.	Asks the better question: How much more revenue will we book if we improve performance?
Relies on rebooting servers or re-installing applications to fix problems.	Diagnoses and fixes the real problem
Depends on task force approach to debate the source of problems tying up developers, network admins., and third party providers.	Reduces MTTFB (mean time to find someone to blame) using end-to-end monitoring to find the real problem
Blames service problems on the user: the PC, the net connection, or basic incompetence.	Ensures user satisfaction by monitoring performance from the end-user perspective.
Over-provisions (and, over-spends) on staffing, hardware and software to assure minimum application performance.	Provisions each application appropriately.  Uses staff time to think about how to use systems more efficiently.
Keeps people staring at the boxes and logfiles day and night just to be safe instead of doing creative work.	Measures the right metrics to keep performance at the right level for each application.

I invite you to share with your fellow IT professionals your past encounters with situations where working hard is just that… hard work with no apparent result at the Application Idol web site.  Happy sharing!

Comments

[neil Thomas]

hi, great web site, could I use your beaver under a tree photo for a tree felling safety article in a company newsletter in nz
do you have the original size photo, could I ask you to email it
Many Thanks Neil T

[ma72zda]

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