Info Bites

Quick Bite Sized Ideas

Info Bites are short, typically, single paragraphs and convey something compact. Also available as the Infobites RSS Feed.

An info bite is more than an idea…

Software as a Disaster (SAAD)

2018 Jul 27

This is the polar opposite of Software as a Service (SAAS) and is the reality of most businesses and their implementation of software to drive their business forward. Systems that just about work but require lots of human intervention and effort.

Platform as a Disaster (PAAD)

2018 Jul 27

This one is more for the providers, when the whole platform has become dysfunctional, either through constant updating or technology change, when the time is right, it needs to move from PAAD and become Platform as a Service (PAAS), as was originally intended.

Infrastructure as a Disaster (IAAD)

2018 Jul 27

Over time, the infrastructure of any business, be it physical estate or technology becomes disjointed and the many iterations of update show through. This is where the Infrastructure as a Disaster comes in. Sometimes it is necessary to just tear it down and start again. Short term pain for long term efficiency gains.

Process Or Procedure In Name Only (POPINO)

2016 Jan 05

This is where someone, a company or organization claims to have a process or procedure and can perhaps show you a document, but nobody follows it and there is no action documentation, no checklists, and no follow-up. There is no way to know how far through the process or procedure someone has got or, the ability for someone else to take over without a lot of wasted handover time. The process exists in name only.

Katherine's Law of Outcomes

2015 Dec 13

People only see the outcome that they desire and ignore all other possible outcomes.

Speed Bugs

2015 Nov 24

When an anomalous bit of code, or bug, is encountered when running at speed, rather than during debug, this is called a “Speed Bug”.

Usage: Oh, we never saw that speed bug coming.

Assumption in Disaster

2015 May 25

Assumptions are at the root of all disasters.

We can attribute the root cause of most failures to an assumption, which proved to be false.

Business Profits

2015 Apr 14

A business does NOT have profits, it has expenses!

All of the profits of a business comes from adding value to its clients.

Work-Life Integration

2015 Mar 16

This is distinct from Work-Life Balance. Many business owners, senior manager and executives should focus on Work-Life Integration, that is getting work and home blended together to make them a seamless whole.

As part of this process, vacation time must be blocked out and have no work component.

Work-Life Integration is about making home and work as effective as possible and accepting the inevitable need that the two will overlap and so a holistic approach is needed.

The Right Tool

2015 Mar 12

There is not always a right tool for the job, but usually there are many wrong tools and some that will work. Todays’ quote is:

When you need to change a wheel, the wrong tool is a sieve.

Katherine Bean PhD at SQLBits XIV

TemporalStamp

2015 Mar 06

A TemporalStamp is used to separate the Temporal Data from the underlying control information. Both are needed.

The TemporalStamp gives all the advanced functionality. It turns a regular dataset into something special.

Temporally Safe

2015 Mar 06

To be Temporally Safe, data must:

  1. Have a Temporal Stamp
  2. Never have been modified
  3. Must never have been deleted or recreated

All data must preserve its full history, by never updating an existing item, only by adding new items. This preserves the time series nature of the data.

TemporalDB

2015 Mar 06

A Temporal Database or TemporalDB™ is a data store in which the data is always kept with reference to time.

Data is accessed at a point in time. We ask the question of the data “What was it at time x.” So the business can always know how the data looked.

This solves many of the data processing problems that currently exist.

Action Book

2015 Feb 23

The Action Book is a predetermined set of actions which are performed in the event of a trigger condition. It should be kept updated with the latest information. It is the go to source for your response.

Authentication as a Service (AaaS)

2015 Feb 03

First up, this is pronounced ass, like the donkey! Not ideal, but that’s where we end up.

Authentication as a Service is where a third party, such as DVANA offer an authentication system used by others. The authentication function is either held entirely or partly by the third party. An example would be multi-factor authentication, where part of it is processed by someone else. This would make the system harder to hack as there are multiple points which need breaching.

Cash Separator

2015 Jan 05

Usually a product, but can be a service, which is typically sold as an addition to the product you were originally buying.

The meaning is that it separates the purchaser from their cash or money. Hence, Cash Separator!

The Dictionaries Dilemma

2014 Nov 10

How to you know how to find something you don’t already know?

This is the Dictionary Dilemma, how to find the spelling of a word you cannot spell.

How do you find a solution to a problem you cannot articulate!

Task Storm

2014 Nov 01

A task storm occurs when you have too many tasks to complete. This could be because the rate of new tasks arriving is greater than that rate of task completion.

Typically, it leads to stress and a worsening of job performance and productivity, making the situation worse.

Katherine’s Law of Resources

2014 Oct 01

Activities quickly expand to consume all the available resources.

For example, as broadband speed increases, so does the use of broadband, with dialup internet, there was no video, now video is everywhere. Faster broadband means better quality video, etc. This absorption of capabilities occurs across all resource usages.

Technichnology

2014 Sep 10

Is a little play on words, but the intention is that for every activity there is something precise that will fill that gap.

All too often there is a one size fits all when really there is a vast selection of technologies which can be tailored and used to address the exact situation or problem.

Perception Blindness

2014 Sep 09

When a point of view is taken to be the only possible point of view, this is perception blindness. In all situations, there are many possible perspectives which need to be considered.

See all the possibilities and see the world from many different angles.

JBOK

2014 Sep 07

Just a Bunch of Keys, this refers to the key columns in a database table. The expression is used for either keys in a table or keys within a database. It is rarely used to refer to keys within multiple databases.

JBOI

2014 Sep 07

Just a Bunch of Indexes, this refers to the index columns in a database table. The expression is used for either indexes on a table or indexes within a database. It is rarely used to refer to indexes within multiple databases.