Taming Information Technology

Lessons from Studies of System Administrators
Erscheinungsjahr 2012
ISBN: 978-0-19-537412-4
Verlag: Oxford University Press

Buch, Englisch, 310 Seiten, Format (B × H): 156 mm x 234 mm, Gewicht: 480 g

Reihe: Human Technology Interaction Series

Information technology is at the center of modern life. It supports most day-to-day activities: talking on the phone, getting money from an ATM, or working in the office. Whether for work, commerce, or fun, we interact with computers, networks, and databases -- all sorts of information technology. How does it work? Certainly, technological advances helped create this world. But what keeps it running? The answer is people. These people -- computer system administrators -- are the unsung heroes of the modern age. When we notice them, it is only because something went wrong. Small failures can become big problems, and big failures can make news headlines and cost lots of money. But most of the time, things go right, and system administrators are invisible. They work out of sight, down in the data-center, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. But how do they keep systems running? And more importantly, how can we help make them better at their jobs?

To answer these questions, the authors of Taming Information Technology set out to study system administrators -- sysadmins, for short. They observed sysadmins in their natural environments, their offices, at the data center, or wherever they worked. The authors took notes, recorded video, interviewed, and, ultimately, put all these pieces together to try to understand what sysadmins do. This book, ten years in the making, is the result. It tells the story of system administration through the narratives of real system administrators. It documents dynamic systems of people and machines, of specialists working together to tame hugely complex information technology infrastructures, developing and adapting their own tools and practices over time to create productive work environments. The authors hope Taming Information Technology will lead the way to a future in which the important work of these IT workers is better appreciated, better understood, and better supported.

Zielgruppe

Primary: IT professionals, managers in IT Services sector; Academics in computing, information technology (IT), management information systems (MIS) areas, including graduate students; Designers and developers involved in creating tools for system administration. Secondary: General readers interested in computers and IT, and those other academic areas, such as human-computer interaction, computer supported collaborative software, ethnography, etc.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Kandogan, Eser

Maglio, Paul P.

Maglio, Paul

Haber, Eben M.

Haber, Eben

Bailey, John

Fachgebiete

• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik EDV & Informatik Allgemein Soziale und ethische Aspekte der EDV
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik EDV & Informatik Allgemein EDV & Informatik: Ausbildung & Berufe
• Mathematik | Informatik EDV | Informatik Technische Informatik Systemverwaltung & Management

Inhaltsverzeichnis

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
PROLOGUE: WHY WE WROTE THIS BOOK
Chapter 1: MOTIVATIONS AND METHODS
Trends
Business
Labor
Automation
Our studies
Questions
Methods
Descriptions
Analysis
Roadmap
Summary
Chapter 2: PEOPLE AND COLLABORATION
The Story of George, Web Administrator
Complex Technical Environment
Mysterious Errors
Remote Troubleshooting
Obstacles to Collaboration
Debugging George
System Administration as Collaboration
Chapter 3: TECHNOLOGIES AND COMPLEXITY
The Story of Dot, Web Administrator
Coordinating Information
Grounding System State
Manual Interactions
Solving the Puzzle of Complexity
The Story of the Crit Sit
Transient Problem
Summarizing System State
Making Sense of Chaos
Complex Interactions
Grounding in a Complex Environment
Chapter 4: PRACTICES AND INNOVATION
The Story of Christine and Mike, Database Administrators
Copy, Test, Document, Revise
Formal and Informal Organizational Support
Rehearsing Procedures
Organizational Awareness
Multiple Checks for Risky Operations
Managing Risk
The Story of Patrick, Capacity Planner
Allocation by the Book
Allocation by Experience
By the Book versus by Experience
Managing Innovation Reduces Risk
Chapter 5: TOOLS AND AUTOMATION
The Story of Shawn, OS Administrator
Balancing Customization and Automation
Homemade Tools
Coordinating with the Customer
Customization, Automation, Coordination
The Story of Diana and Mark, Storage Administrators
Automate as Much as Possible
Building One of a Kind Tools
The Story of Jimmy, Database Administrator
Creating System Administration Tools
Chapter 6: ORGANIZATIONS AND INFORMATION
The Story of Henry and Ryan, Storage Administrators
Optimizing within an Organization
Reducing Friction Between Organizations
Grounding Past and Future
Synchronizing Work Across the Organization
Orchestrating Information Flow
The Story of Amy, Transition Manager
Information Hub
Activity Hub
Orchestrating Organizations
Orchestrating the Flow of Information and Work
Chapter 7: COMMUNITIES AND TRUST
The Story of Joe and Aaron, Security Administrators
Human Judgment Required
Working with the Local Community
A Global Response to a Global Attack
Sharing Tools Locally and Globally
Using and Developing Community Tools
System Administration across Communities
Chapter 8: FINDINGS AND LESSONS
System Administrators Depend on Collaboration
System Administrators Create and Adapt Tools and Practices
Organizations Orchestrate Information Flow and Work
System Administrators Depend on their Communities
Automation Cannot Replace System Administrators
Conclusion
EPILOGUE: WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
George, Web Administrator
Dot and Nora, Web Administrators
Diana, Storage Administrator
Ryan, Storage Architect
Amy, Transition Manager
Aaron and Joe, Security Administrators
The Journey Continues
REFERENCES
Index

Über Autor(innen)

Maglio, Paul
Paul P. Maglio is a research scientist and manager at IBM Research - Almaden. Dr Maglio serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Service Research and Service Science, and was lead editor of the Handbook of Service Science. Dr Maglio has published more than 100 papers in computer science, cognitive science, and service science, and is an Associate Adjunct Professor at UC Merced, where he has taught service science since 2007.

Haber, Eben
Eben Haber is a research staff member at IBM Research - Almaden, where he has worked on topics including IT System Administration (including studies of sysadmins, developing prototype administration tools, and designing new features for middleware management products), as well as research on end-user programming and information visualization.

Kandogan, Eser
Eser Kandogan is a research staff member at IBM Research - Almaden and manages a group conducting research on visual interfaces to data. He served as the general chair and program chair for ACM CHIMIT symposium and was a member of the program committee for several conferences including ACM CHI, USENIX LISA, and IEEE Policy. Dr. Kandogan has over 50 publications in areas such as human-computer interaction and information visualization.

Bailey, John
John Bailey is a Director of Product Design at CA Technologies, where he creates leading-edge product user experiences for the management of information technology. Previously, John was a research scientist at IBM Research - Almaden, where he did research on service systems, specializing in human factors in information technology service engagement and delivery. Prior to working at IBM, John was a Research Fellow with The Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area, conducting research in simulation, training, and virtual reality at the US Army Research Institute. He has published in the areas of virtual reality, human-computer interaction, automation, simulation and training, systems administration, and service science. John has a PhD. In Human Factors Psychology from the University of Central Florida.

Eser Kandogan is a research staff member at IBM Research - Almaden and manages a group conducting research on visual interfaces to data. He served as the general chair and program chair for ACM CHIMIT symposium and was a member of the program committee for several conferences including ACM CHI, USENIX LISA, and IEEE Policy. Dr. Kandogan has over 50 publications in areas such as human-computer interaction and information visualization.

Paul P. Maglio is a research scientist and manager at IBM Research - Almaden. Dr Maglio serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Service Research and Service Science, and was lead editor of the Handbook of Service Science. Dr Maglio has published more than 100 papers in computer science, cognitive science, and service science, and is an Associate Adjunct Professor at UC Merced, where he has taught service science since 2007.

Eben Haber is a research staff member at IBM Research - Almaden, where he has worked on topics including IT System Administration (including studies of sysadmins, developing prototype administration tools, and designing new features for middleware management products), as well as research on end-user programming and information visualization.

John Bailey is a Director of Product Design at CA Technologies, where he creates leading-edge product user experiences for the management of information technology. Previously, John was a research scientist at IBM Research - Almaden, where he did research on service systems, specializing in human factors in information technology service engagement and delivery. Prior to working at IBM, John was a Research Fellow with The Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area, conducting research in simulation, training, and virtual reality at the US Army Research Institute.