Resource utilization

In our organization, every server machine that hosts an application has a monitoring system installed on it. The monitoring system tracks the utilization of various machine resources like CPU, memory, disk space, etc... The system raises alerts when some utilization goes beyond a pre-defined threshold and is sustained over a pre-defined period of time.

I received one such alert this morning from one of the machines hosting my application. And, later during the day, I had some very frustrating moments arguing with some managers about resource utilization. Yes, it was about "human" resource utilization.

It seems very strange to me that in an IT organization where human resource is the biggest asset, we have continuous monitoring of server resource utilization but nothing for human resource utilization.

I see many projects being overstaffed and poorly managed. And, at the same time, there are some projects that are understaffed with resources utilized beyond normal thresholds. Senior Management needs to have human resource utilization monitoring in place. Mid-level managers must be held accountable for over-budgeting and over-staffing. Because, over-staffing and over-budgeting of one project invariable means that there is some other project out there that is will not get an appropriate budget or staff.

I hope my managers are reading this !

Bad blogger

Hello Blog,
I've been a very bad blogger - this is my first blog in over 6 months :-(

Over the last 6 months, I have tried to write several entries but I never completed any of them because I wanted each one of them to be perfect. And, of course, nothing can ever be perfect and my entries withered away as unfinished drafts.

Now, I have decided that whether my entry is perfect or not, whether it is complete or not, I am going to publish it anyway. You ask why?

Because, for the first time in my (very short) 5-year career, I am encountering some very furstrating moments at work and I want to use this blog as a punching bag. I want to vent all my stress and frustration here in this ethereal space.

If you are reading my blog and empathize with me, please do send me your comments at vijaypm_@_gmail_._com. But, if you do not empathize with me, then you are lucky. You either have a great job or you are the frustration for others at work.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading my blog and I'll try to be regular with my posts.

Later...