With modernization efforts, new systems often get the spotlight and celebrating those wins is important.
But beware the “cake in the break area” trap.
If your legacy support team’s main interaction with your modernization effort is a leftover piece of cake, you’ve fallen into that trap.
Wow, 50 years of Monty Python and the Holy Grail!
A perfect reminder that even the most absurd quests can teach us to laugh, persevere, and not take life too seriously.
Just remember ... beware the killer rabbit.
For many seasoned professionals in tech, “We’re not gonna take it” isn’t just a rock anthem — it’s the quiet refrain of those who’ve carried the weight of critical systems, late-night incidents, and relentless change.
Everyone retires eventually. But the knowledge chasm beyond the retirement cliff for those who’ve built, run, and sustained mission-critical systems is a growing crisis for many technology teams and the business functions they enable.
Just as scientists choose experiments to validate theories, strong technical leaders use targeted research to uncover what lies beneath the surface.
To make your research spikes count, aim beyond the obvious.
It’s tempting to view Mainframe, distributed, and cloud systems as a linear progression from old to new. But in reality, systems are bundles of trade-offs. Every platform, no matter how popular, comes with both strengths and weaknesses.
You can choose one platform or follow a hybrid strategy, but the one thing you can’t do is stop investing in the platforms you rely on.
Tech is Cool, But Results Rule
Guinness doesn’t just brew beer! One of their statisticians, William Sealy Gosset (aka “Student”), developed the t-test to improve quality control while keeping sample sizes small.
A perfect model, elegant design, or aesthetic bit of code means nothing if it doesn’t solve a problem.
Impact is what matters. Cheers to making a difference!
Find out more with the story below:
How the Guinness Brewery Invented the Most Important Statistical Method
Here is an interesting article that reminds us to consider human interaction when designing technology.
The article is a summary of a research paper where delivery robots were followed while their interactions were recorded.
TLDR; the researchers found people will modify their behavior to help robots along.
🤔 While the article is specific to human-robot-environment interaction, I think it’s a fun reminder to review usability and accessibility while designing new systems.
New study finds invisible 'human work' allows robots to make deliveries
Design patterns didn’t start with software. Before the Gang of Four introduced them to software engineering, Christopher Alexander used patterns to explain how to make cities and buildings more livable.
His 1977 book, A Pattern Language, revealed how timeless design principles create spaces where people thrive.
Microservices promise agility and scalability, but there's a hidden pitfall that can derail your chosen architecture: shared data.
Imagine forgetting your electric tea kettle was on. No big deal ... it shuts itself off when it senses danger, like potentially burning your house down. This is the circuit breaker pattern in action.