The Summons
The odds seem stacked against you, but you roll with it. It’s what you do, solve problems.
You manage the backup system. And 99% of the time a few people notice what you do. But then comes the 1% – the mission critical restore. Then they notice; this is it – the moment of truth. They’ve come to your arena, to see you perform. You won’t be embarrassed this time, you’re prepared. Like the elite athlete, you do your training away from the eyes of management.
Except you’ve not done the training. The IT Director doesn’t see your fingers crossed…
Loki
Time. It’s the only problem you can’t fix. Since the recession of 2008, you’ve faced reduced budgets and bandwidth. But you enjoy learning new skills, fixing new problems. The bigger the better, right? But it’s the time stealers that hinder you. Supplier software audits, compliance officer requests, constant security patching and client updates. And that proof of concept, for some new tech your boss read about on a flight to a swanky conference.
You’re not afraid of a challenge – you save your best work for evenings and weekends. The 1970 Chevy El Camino you’ve restored from a rusted-out shell, is waiting to be unveiled to the boys at the next Daikoku Night, Caffeine and Machine. At least they appreciate what goes into making something great.
So, the restore worked; if a little slower than expected. Self-esteem intact, you are the master of mayhem. As you do for the Chevy, a bit of performance tuning would be good preparation for the next restore. But management have moved on and its back to fighting fires, constant interruptions and performing heroic deeds. Tomorrow will bring another round of problems to tackle.
Shield
You decide to get on the front foot; become more proactive. If they won’t give you more people, maybe management will let you buy the right tool. Software, to give you back that most precious resource; time. The stakes get bigger every day. The company faces stiffer competition and margins are under pressure. More processes are digital, and any downtime is costly. Hackers, writing malware, bring a new threat they did not budget for back in 2010. You are the last line of defence. You are a data protection superhero!
But every super-hero needs support. And gadgets.
You don’t want to be embarrassed by a misfiring backup system. You need a platform to help you stay head of the hackers and clowns. Software, like Predatar, you can program to fine-tune restore performance. What if you could test multiple combinations of system restores? You could be more proactive. Setting expectations for application owners and database administrators. It’s how you really want to be measured, data availability. Guarding the business against loss.
The Joker
You need time to sharpen your axe. Time to think and time to plan. Overcoming the threats to your data in the future will require a different approach. Your enemies are smart. Be the superhero.
But who are you? Are you Batman? A superhero with no special powers. Just tough, adaptable and highly intelligent. An introvert, hiding in his cave, adapting his crime fighting weapons. Like you, he doesn’t seek the glory. When people need help, they send out the Bat Signal. Glory finds Batman. He saves the day and then disappears into the night.
You don’t run away from the big challenges either. But you need the best tools to help you beat your deadliest enemy; time. Take our superhero challenge…
By Alistair Mackenzie, CEO
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