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January 5, 2001

At your peril

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While it may seem a bit odd, among the many lessons learned from the recent election fiasco is an important wakeup call for all who work in high-tech careers. Any system, if ignored, will fail at the worst possible moment with potentially disastrous consequences. Every system, be a paper punch ballot or high-end database system, must be constantly monitored to insure that when a crisis occurs, the system will be up to the challenge. If you do not take the time to monitor systems then it could be only a matter of time before you have no career at all.

Good enough

The major problem highlighted during the election was the hobgoblin of "good enough." In most elections a few hundred, even a few thousand votes are not enough to change the outcome of the election. Unfortunately, every so often, there is an election so tight that any one race can come down to 100, 50 or even 10 votes. It is only then that anyone pays attention to the flaws in the system. No one cared about "chads" until the difference between "swinging" and "pregnant" became the deciding factor in who would be the next president. As most would agree, this was much, much too late.

How many systems under your control are "good enough?" Do you regularly stress test existing applications along with the new to insure that they continue to operate? Do you ignore small issues with systems that might turn into large issues in a crisis? You must remember that you will be the person called on the carpet if and when things fail. Will you have the right answers or will you be looking for a new job?

War games

There is a reason that military organizations run war games exercises. These exercises are the "mid-term exam" for soldiers and their commanders. More is learned from what goes wrong in an exercise than what goes right. Yes, it can be embarrassing to have your flaws exposed, but it is very important that you find the flaws so they can be corrected before you actually go into battle. Bruised egos are much easier to repair than wounded soldiers.

Every company should have a regular session of "war games" with every technology system they own and operate. The first step is exposing and dealing with any known flaws with the system. There is no reason a system should be running with known flaws. This is like driving around with a unusable spare tire in your car. It is only a matter of time before the flaw leaves you stranded.

Next, set up a testing scenario. What would happen if CNN suddenly covered your e-commerce site as the newest, hippest trend? Would your traffic increase by 50%, 100%, 500%? Why not test your system under all 3 scenarios, all of which could be valid? Following the scientific method we all learned in high school, you should develop a hypothesis, carry out tests against that hypothesis and then analyze the data to see if the hypothesis was correct. In most cases, it won’t be. Almost every time you test a system you will be surprised. There is always something that has escaped your attention. In fact, if your testing doesn’t turn up any flaws you might want to check your scenario to see if you were running a truly difficult test.

Finally, honestly and openly address the issues that arise from your war games. There is nothing to be gained in hiding flaws in systems. They will be discovered eventually and you will be asked why you tried to hide them and why you did nothing to correct them. No one wants to be on the receiving end of a conversation like that. Such conversations usually end with someone asking you to resign or firing you outright.

Every crisis has a lesson to teach and this year’s election has a lesson for almost every area of life and business. As high-tech careerists, the failings of the technology and the process should give you much food for thought when dealing with your own technology and processes. While a failure in your company may not produce the same amount of nationwide havoc, it can have disastrous effects on your company, your industry and, more importantly, your career.

about this column.

Douglas E. Welch is a freelance writer and computer consultant in Van Nuys, California. Readers can discuss career issues with other readers by joining the Career Opportunities Discussion on Douglas' web page at: http://www.welchwrite.com/dewelch/ce/

He can reached via email at douglas@welchwrite.com