[150034] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: common time-management mistake: rack & stack
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Owen DeLong)
Fri Feb 17 13:01:30 2012
From: Owen DeLong <owen@delong.com>
In-Reply-To: <CAPWAtbLe+PCM8+JRKo5op5v_HTr8q3JBu9qmymKyCOw66nHhUw@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 09:55:04 -0800
To: Jeff Wheeler <jsw@inconcepts.biz>
Cc: NANOG <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces+nanog.discuss=bloom-picayune.mit.edu@nanog.org
On Feb 16, 2012, at 11:29 PM, Jeff Wheeler wrote:
> Randy's P-Touch thread brings up an issue I think is worth some
> discussion. I have noticed that a lot of very well-paid, sometimes
> well-qualified, networking folks spend some of their time on "rack &
> stack" tasks, which I feel is a very unwise use of time and talent.
>=20
> Imagine if the CFO of a bank spent a big chunk of his time filling up =
ATMs.
> Flying a sharp router jockey around to far-flung POPs to install gear
> is just as foolish.
>=20
> Not only does the router jockey cost a lot more to employ than a CCNA,
> but if your senior-level talent is wasting time in airports and IBXes,
> that is time they can't be doing things CCNAs can't.
>=20
> I was once advising a client on a transit purchasing decision, and a
> fairly-large, now-defunct tier-2 ISP was being considered. We needed
> a few questions about their IPv6 plans answered before we were
> comfortable. The CTO of that org was the only guy who was able to
> answer these questions. After waiting four days for him to return our
> message, he reached out to us from an airplane phone, telling us that
> he had been busy racking new routers in several east-coast cities (his
> office was not east-coast) and that's why he hadn't got back to us
> yet.
>=20
> As you might imagine, the client quickly realized that they didn't
> want to deal with a vendor whose CTO spent his time doing rack & stack
> instead of engineering his network or engaging with customers. If he
> had simply said he was on vacation, we would never have known how
> poorly the senior people at that ISP managed their time.
>=20
> With apologies to Randy, let the CCNAs fight with label makers.
> --=20
> Jeff S Wheeler <jsw@inconcepts.biz>
> Sr Network Operator / Innovative Network Concepts
With all due respect, Jeff, I think you are missing several factors that =
come into the human equation beyond merely the most efficient use of a =
particular person's time.
I would go stark-raving bonkers trapped in a cubicle doing only things =
that CCNAs can't if I didn't get the occasional break to go out and play =
with real hardware in the field. Most of the well-paid well-qualified =
networking folks I know are the same way.=20
I also think that when we spend too many consecutive weeks/months/years =
behind a desk without going out in the real world, we become =
progressively more detached from the operational reality where our =
designs have to operate.
On the surface, it might seem an inefficient use of financial/human =
resources, but, I think that there is value to time in the field that =
doesn't necessarily show up directly on the balance sheet.
Admittedly, in my current position, I'm no longer in an operational role =
for the most part, but, I'm even more out in the field and spending more =
time in airports.
Owen
