Microsoft Software Update Service More Reliable Than Apple, Ubuntu
As soon as I read the headline, I thought oh great, so we're the best of the worst...
This is an Information Week article located here. After reading it, it made me laugh more than the headline. So their point is that Windows Update is available more than Apple's or Ubuntu's download sites. It doesn't talk about the number, or quality of fixes, just that Windows Update had better uptime. While this statistic is useful to each vendors operations units, who else really cares?
The one time iPhone users cared was Friday with the release of the new iPhone. Apparently the traffic from the new and original iPhones generated enough traffic that it took their site down. That's a bummer, but it begs the question, do we scale for the average load, or do we scale our sites for maximum load. Good for Apple that they sold 1 Million iPhones, but volume like that does expose other weaknesses.
I think this whole discussion begs another question: When is network / network services availability good enough? 98%, 99%, 99.99% or is anything less than 100% uptime acceptable? Go ahead, pick a number. Let's pick 100% because it's easier math. Is your network considered 100% up if it's up all of the business day or truly 24x7x365. Keeping the whole infrastructure up 10 hours a day is pretty easy, but not realistic anymore, is it? Is 100% uptime measured by unscheduled downtime, or any downtime? And what is availability defined as? If the server responds to ping, is that good enough, or does mail actually have to flow, or does the business application need to be working properly? I know I'm asking more questions than I answer, but this is an important discussion to have. Don't you love it when management says; "I'm not paying for 100% 24x7x365 uptime. That can become expensive in a hurry!". OK, but then management demands that the network always be available when they need it! Gee thanks! That's clear as mud!
This is the type of ambiguity that we in IT struggle with. We want black and white answers, and the business works in shades of gray. How can we define an SLA, or even a target to measure against, if we don't have a firm goal? There are multiple technologies that can help address some of these demands, you've even seen software as a service (S+S) gaining momentum, haven't you? What if S+S could offer 100% uptime? Can we let someone else manage the infrastructure and hold them accountable for downtime? Is that better? Hey if we don't have to spend our time keeping an eye on the hardware, software and applications like email and desktop applications, then can't we raise our focus to delivering the business value the customer is really asking for?
I think we need to spend more time talking about the needs of the business, and less time talking about Servers, software versions, and upgrades. Let's talk about the solutions we can provide to the business. If the solutions they need, or let's say the capabilities they need, can be delivered, the need for upgrades is really insignificant isn't it? We need to define the needs of the business and then determine the value the business puts on these needs. If the value outweighs IT spending, then we do it. Right? This is where we leverage the business owners, not IT, to determine the business value. IT budgets continue to be cut and IT is looking for ways to reduce costs. If we can gain the support of the business groups, then we can work with them to secure funding. Now we're giving IT the opportunity to grow their infrastructure and add business value while not forcing IT into funding everything on their own. Isn't the root of the problem really who pays for the solutions? Why should IT be any different than any other department? If a department needs paper or pens, don't they pay for those? Why can't they pay for IT services the same way? I know a $10 case of paper is on a different level than a $4,000 server, but is it really?
Let's see if we can have more conversations on helping the business run the business on their terms. Helping the business grow the business has always been at the core of IT, but we always had "fun" doing it and sometimes we've all been guilty of loosing site of the business. Let's get back to supporting the business instead of them supporting us (financially), and I'll bet we will all end up better for it.
Until next time!
Rob