It is always a much better environment when management knows what is actually going on. The conversions are much more realistic, and they tend to understand when problems are explained. The misery is when you tell them what can and can’t be done, and they refuse to accept that some things just can’t be done, no matter how much they may want them. All of them quote unrealistic time frames.

I’ve seen too many RFPs that were pure imagination, no grasp of reality, and then had calls asking why I didn’t respond. In some ways the worst are those where you can do what is asked for, but you know it isn’t what they need, and they will just be PO’ed no matter how good a job you do.

And people wonder why I wouldn’t work for government agencies or attorneys. The Fortune 50 corporations I did occasionally work for, were bad enough, and very slow paying, I might add.

Boy does he, he’s focused like a laser on that, and he lets us know what the people he talks to *want* us to make too, some of which is possible with existing technology, some of which would require Star Trek physics in order for it to work :). But anyhow, yeah, I’m quite happy with where I’m working right now, we have the usual problems such as various legacy issues to work through but we don’t have the problems that are misery-inducing, if you know what I mean.

Oh, you mean the bit about the press releases for the promotion of your boss’s boss that somehow include a list of accomplishments that came from you or your team, yeah, I’m familiar with that type of ‘misunderstanding’ in large companies.

Sales, so the CEO still knows what it is that the company makes. That’s always helpful, and is increasingly rare among large corporations where the CEOs tend to think the corporation just sells stock.

All too often IT is considered overhead, even in tech firms. It is almost as if people don’t understand the reason they make money. The top of too many corporations feel that ‘playing with numbers’ is the most important thing a corporation does, rather than creating what customers want to buy.

I put it down to hypoxia in the upper management because of their office locations.

Getting hard numbers is always the best way of dealing with it, and it helps keep any sales promises within a realistic range.

There are four new 1U servers, each of which are dual processor with at least 12gb of ram, and two new 2U storage arrays, each of which has twelve drives. The 1U servers have dual redundant 350 watt power supplies. The 2U storage arrays have dual redundant 400 watt power supplies (they have twelve drives, but only one processor, and Xeon 5550’s use up to 95 watts of power so leaving one of the processors out saves a lot of power budget — note that all of these machines have identical motherboards, keeps our repair inventory costs down to do it that way). So total draw will be 1400+1200=2600 watts. Vs. two racks worth of equipment, or a total power budget at least 5 times more. Uhm, yeah, we’re saving at least 10,000 watts of power, which at PG&E rates is pretty darn good (that’s $1.70/hour that we’re saving, let’s see, 24/7 for 365 days a year… $14,800/year savings, dayum, two years and it’s *more* than paid for!).

Man, I need to go measure these numbers exactly and run’em past my boss. Maybe I can get a pay raise or somethin’ out of it ;).

Actually, your marketing department should be all over it for a presentation to clients. Hopefully the local PD will actually do something with the information you gave them, and not just sit on it.

I was just thinking of the cost of operating the stuff you replaced, and its effect on electrical usage. Video is really a bigger energy user than most people realize. It is sort of shocking how much power flat-screens suck up, and CCDs are as bad as LEDs for energy consumption.

Which reminds me that some moron decided to break into our office and steal some stuff. We have his face. We have the make and model of his car. We have his friggin’ *license plate*. What kind of moron breaks into a VIDEO SURVEILLANCE company?! ROFL!

— Badtux the Easily Amused Penguin