James Governor sent me this link to some BBC support information. I assume that this is public knowledge and I am not exposing some kind of UK National Secret by exposing this for the Google Monster to crawl.
The best thing is the Network Diagram. Very nice.
Now, technically, it is not a true Chinook, but it sure feels like one. Where else can the temperature rise 20 degrees in 2 hours? It was eeriely warm when I came to work this morning. When I go home, it will be a surprising cold that will great me.
Gotta love weather, the last random element.
Having had contact with more than a few "industry analysts" (and seen former colleagues make the move into this are), James Governor, of RedMonk, makes a few comments on the relevance of analysts.
The Takeaway:
"what are you going to do to revolutionize your industry?"
Susan Koehler, Microsoft
In the world of Web performance, the agreed upon state of Nirvana is the development of an automated system that will isolate, identify, diagnose and resolve (or suggest a resolution) to an issue. However, the question for me is whether these systems are really useful.
Why do I say that? Because they solve the tactical issues. The day-to-day issues. But there is no solution for poor design, inadequate eqipment, overloaded systems, and other strategic decisions. Automated performance systems do not solve the underlying problem — delivering reliable and relevant information on Web performance metrics that matter to business customers.
Who consumes Web performance data? Technology teams.
Who needs holistic Web performance information? Business leaders.
Who does the Web performance industry currently serve?
Looks like a smaller version of the glory days may be returning. Employers should take the time to carefully evaluate their salary and benefits packages before they lose key emloyees who tolerated their positions because the employers had the upper hand.
Despite the doom-and-gloom title to this post, I fully sympatize with what the FBI is trying to accomplish, and the very public pain that they will feel as a result of the failure of Virtual Case File 1.0.
What I find interesting is that the biggest technology company no one has ever heard of, SAIC, failed to deliver a product that met the client’s needs. They are noted for their cutting-edge development and technology, especially in skunkworks and black ops.
This project demonstrates that incredibly complex software projects can and will fail to deliver unless the needs of the users are carefully considered, and the project is not rushed for political purposes.
What is the goal of Virtual Case File? I hypothesize that it is to make the process of handling case documentation and correlation more effective and efficient, with the additional benefit of being able to link disparate bits of information into a more effective whole more quickly, saving lives, etc.
Ever line of code needs to be developed with this purpose in mind. Does this function allow a user to achieve the goals that have been defined for the entire project? If not, what do we need to do to improve this function?
It is very easy to lose sight of the corporate goal when working on atomic-level components of a larger project. Happens to me every day. That is why I sit back at the end of each day and consider how my efforts contributed to my strategic personal and professional goals. I have to do it, or else I get trapped by the minutiae.
I wish the FBI luck, as this project is a much-needed advance for law-enforcement.
Working on a White Paper with a colleague. WIll be posting very little today.
The team at Port80 Software has come up with a cool side-project: cool 404 pages.
The best: CLICK HERE. (May force you to download a file in Mozilla/Firefox)
From Down Under, some QoS questions that every manager needs to consider.
I read this article, and although it applies to the Public Sector, it is completely true in the area of Web performance excellence.
The Takeaway Quote
“[T]he magical performance system doesn’t exist. Even a good performance system doesn’t exist. Systems don’t improve performance; leaders do.”
Robert Behn