Stuff you run v. stuff you run it on

Calling all you Apps and Server types

By Jon Collins, Freeform Dynamics • Get more from this author

Posted in Server Management, 11th November 2009 09:03 GMT

Mini-poll There are lots of things to say about servers, and there are lots of things to say about applications. One of the curses of the IT industry is the ease at which we can remove the working context between things and talk about them as though they exist in isolation. Whether this simple observation is the primary cause of business-IT misalignment in your organisation, or just an irritation, we'd love to hear your views on some of the issues surrounding ‘apps and servers'.

READER POLL

1. Which of the following rings (most) true for your organisation when it comes to building/running software apps?

The apps people call the shots: they build stuff with little regard to operational aspects
IT ops calls the shots: apps staff builds and procure stuff they know IT ops can run
There's a happy medium between applications and operations teams
Business users/management call the shots but take the constraints of IT into account
We're just one big virtuous circle: users, app dev and ops
Other (please state)

2. What drives application management requirements on a day to day basis? (please tick the one that matches your environment the most closely)

We have confirmed SLA(s) between IT and the business
IT operations just gets on and manages ‘everything' (apps are just one part)
Each application is managed on its own merits, on an individual basis
Ongoing business needs dictate IT operational constraints on a more ad-hoc basis
We fly by the seat of our pants
Other (please state)

3. And, on a scale of 1 to 5, how effective would you say that this approach is to application management? (1 = Not at all effective; 5 = Very Effective)

	1	2	3	4	5

4. In what areas do you struggle more, i.e. what difference would addressing any of the following make to delivery of apps that run on your server estate? (check all that apply)

	Big difference/we struggle here	Some difference/we're quite good here	Little difference/we're well covered here
Scalability and performance
General availability and resilience
Compliance with industry/national standards, e.g. PCI DSS, HIPAA
Data protection, back-up and recovery
Disaster recovery
Security
Monitoring and management
IT staff skills / training
User skills/ training
Other (please state)

5. Thinking about your answers so far, what are the consequences of the requirements that business, development and IT operations have on the server estate in your IT department? Is it as simple as ending up with lots more than you need, or is there more to it?

6. Before you go; to help us segment the responses we get, please tell us who you are:

I'm an apps/dev person
I'm an IT ops/server/systems management person
I'm neither/other

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