When building a cloud, I was CTO's pain in the neck... and I survived
Content
It is not completely easy to come to an agreement with the technical department under normal circumstances.
Because we have a different point of view – I’m not saying one is better than the other – but they are different and that always causes friction. But then there is a completely different level – changes within an already ongoing project.
Building a new cloud
And in our case, it was not just an ordinary project. It was an extension of the existing infrastructure on which we provide our basic services – a cloud computing environment.
The original environment on the rented servers had already been through a lot. As you are sure to notice, technology moves forward very quickly, so the cloud chassis is no exception.
When we started talking about this project, the eyes of the technical department started to light up. It’s not a sight to forget because it doesn’t happen very often. But we agreed on this point – the company needed a better equipment and it gave the technicians a chance to secure new toys. And I don’t mean that in a bad way, technologies are very interesting and in order to be able to apply them well, you have to really play with them and understand them.
Everything went like clockwork. The project was well thought out, the selection procedures were completed successfully, it was simply time to get to work. Or not.
The problems begin
They say that problems should be talked about as opportunities, but what we came across just couldn’t be called any other way. We had a conflict with our original provider. So I had to call the CTO and tell him the absolutely “great” news – we had to change the project, which was already in the implementation phase, from the ground up.
He stopped talking. At that moment I knew it was bad. Fortunately, I had an ace up my sleeve – although this change meant a fundamentally different solution, it was autonomous and fully under our management. That calmed him down. Never go into a conversation with a CTO without trumps, it’s not a pretty sight.
Using the reverse sandwich method – bad news, good news, bad news – I gave him clear instructions – different project, the same budget. At that point he stopped talking again, but I knew he knew why.
After all, the budget was their assignment. They are the professionals in the field, so the only limitation was the amount of funds. But, of course, they started to decrease with the advent of the changes.
However, we all know that money simply cannot be inflated. But they are clever guys, so we exceeded the final budget only by approximately 5% – a loss which, under the circumstances, was a minimal toll.
What did I survive?
There were several changes, but all of them were essential for the running of our project.
- Termination of the contract with the original server provider -> the technicians had to come up with a completely different solution, because originally it was an expansion of the infrastructure, now it was a completely separate unit, which also needed migration.
- Change of location -> originally everything was supposed to be in Písek, where it would have been right around the corner, so the technicians would simply walk to the DC if necessary. In the end, the whole solution ended up being built in Prague, so they wouldn’t be able to just go there, but they would have to join the queues on the D4, which is under construction.
- Costs -> Although the budget was given and unchangeable, the changes affected the operating costs of the solution, which increased significantly because we suddenly had to solve everything by ourselves. Therefore, the CTO not only had to constantly redo the 15-page Excel, but at the same time it was up to him to arrange all the delivery of services that we needed for operation.
- Shortage of goods -> Logically, it would seem that the problem would be expensive electricity, for example, but strangely enough, we came across a completely different problematic article – IP addresses. There are so few of them on the market that the queues for them globally are longer than for bananas in the last century Czechoslovakia.
- Time plan -> the schedule was constantly revised from day to day, because we learned new and new dates, when we have to do what.
These are not small things, especially when you realize that every point directly interfered with the ongoing project of the technicians, who waking up with the thoughts that everything would change again.
How did I survive?
You are not alone in wondering. But I attribute my salvation, even though many of the changes were not my fault – you know how it goes, shoot the messenger – to one specific thing. We have a family atmosphere in the company.
I know it sounds like a cliché, but there really is nothing better than having good relationships on a personal level with every employee in a company. This is different from large companies, where it is perhaps not even possible.
Our small business has a staff size that allows me to cultivate personal relationships, get to know employees and treat them as individuals. I owe it to these good relationships that the CTO didn’t strangle me and the technicians started talking to me again.
