Let me tell you about a large bank and two data centers operated using VMware and the type of talent the bank is able to hire and retain. A move away from VMware is a 5-year project involving hiring, retraining, design mistakes, budget overruns, and a lot of grey hair. The year was 2012. 7 years later, one DC converted to OpenStack, the project is shelved and the majority of th OpenStack DC gets converted back to VMware due to “OpenStack disaster.”
This one gave me the imposter syndrome rollercoaster again. I’m inept, you can’t convince me I’m not, but I’m not that inept that I can’t see multiple glaring flaws with different explanations at play here. That passes for IT professionals in pivotal roles. But I’d be too embarrassed to continue existing if I were anyone involved in that rollout “plan”.
Obviously there’s some sort of spectrum of knowledge and experience, but I cant reliably discern what it’s supposed to even look like anymore.
You’ve got an audience if you feel like elaborating. Sounds like a fun story haha.
The fundamental problem I have identified over the years I worked adjacent to this project is this. Most folks above the manager position are not technical. They’re typically some sort of BA. These kinds of folks do not easily comprehend the technical merits of different solutions. All sorts of errors stem from that. Errors in estimating risk, errors in estimating difficulty, but crucially errors in telling reality from fantasy, or truth from lies. Under this framework, the ability of the organization to hire technical people who know what they’re doing is more or less based on luck. This particular org struck luck with some hires and didn’t with most. So now we have a group of people who will build this thing, with only a few qualified people among the unqualified. Alright. A difficult design decision has to be made. There are two proposals. One from a qualified person. Another from an unqualified one. They’re both presented to a director or a VP for a final decision. The qualified person presents their design, pros, cons, etc. The unqualified one does the same, except they have an ace up their sleeve - confident lies. So they sprinkle those all around their design - everything is amazing, few cons if any, unicorns shitting rainbows and the lot. The decision maker cannot discern the lies from the truth. The unicorn design feels irresistible. It’s chosen. Its designer is promoted before its ill effects are ever realized. Now the competent folk don’t even get to present alternatives to the VP level. Eventually they’re tired of this shit and move to a place that is less corrupted.
This wasn’t confined to one project and a single set of people. It’s a general problem that transcends orgs and companies.
Let me tell you about a large bank and two data centers operated using VMware and the type of talent the bank is able to hire and retain. A move away from VMware is a 5-year project involving hiring, retraining, design mistakes, budget overruns, and a lot of grey hair. The year was 2012. 7 years later, one DC converted to OpenStack, the project is shelved and the majority of th OpenStack DC gets converted back to VMware due to “OpenStack disaster.”
This one gave me the imposter syndrome rollercoaster again. I’m inept, you can’t convince me I’m not, but I’m not that inept that I can’t see multiple glaring flaws with different explanations at play here. That passes for IT professionals in pivotal roles. But I’d be too embarrassed to continue existing if I were anyone involved in that rollout “plan”.
Obviously there’s some sort of spectrum of knowledge and experience, but I cant reliably discern what it’s supposed to even look like anymore.
You’ve got an audience if you feel like elaborating. Sounds like a fun story haha.
The fundamental problem I have identified over the years I worked adjacent to this project is this. Most folks above the manager position are not technical. They’re typically some sort of BA. These kinds of folks do not easily comprehend the technical merits of different solutions. All sorts of errors stem from that. Errors in estimating risk, errors in estimating difficulty, but crucially errors in telling reality from fantasy, or truth from lies. Under this framework, the ability of the organization to hire technical people who know what they’re doing is more or less based on luck. This particular org struck luck with some hires and didn’t with most. So now we have a group of people who will build this thing, with only a few qualified people among the unqualified. Alright. A difficult design decision has to be made. There are two proposals. One from a qualified person. Another from an unqualified one. They’re both presented to a director or a VP for a final decision. The qualified person presents their design, pros, cons, etc. The unqualified one does the same, except they have an ace up their sleeve - confident lies. So they sprinkle those all around their design - everything is amazing, few cons if any, unicorns shitting rainbows and the lot. The decision maker cannot discern the lies from the truth. The unicorn design feels irresistible. It’s chosen. Its designer is promoted before its ill effects are ever realized. Now the competent folk don’t even get to present alternatives to the VP level. Eventually they’re tired of this shit and move to a place that is less corrupted.
This wasn’t confined to one project and a single set of people. It’s a general problem that transcends orgs and companies.
RHEV > OpenStack
Don’t hate the game just because of one frail player.
But isn’t RHEV dead?