Complexity
Today is the busiest day of a normal month for me. It's full of month-end reporting and other assorted glee. Today should be even more exciting than ever before, because now I have to integrate another source of data in an incompatible format. Whee!
Previously, I was working with three sources of data, two of which were different instances of the same product. However, in the infinite wisdom of contract logic, one of those sites was moved to the corporate offices and placed on a different product altogether.
It gets interesting from there. Normally, I don't mind learning something new. Heck, the promise of learning tends to keep me occupied when I would have otherwise moved on. Typically, I mine data through direct connections to the databases in question, then use my own custom tools to blend that data together into something meaningful. If you aren't an IT sort of person, you may not realize that this opens the door to automation - the holy grail of periodic reporting.
Now, for this third data set, I have to run manual stock reports out of that system, then figure out a way to import it into something meaningful. And yes, as my narrative suggests, this removes all ability to automate this process. It becomes a manual and cumbersome procedure.
But it gets better - due to network protocols at my site, no VPN connections may traverse the firewall in an outbound vector originating from a network computer. Since the new site is now off the customer network, I can't even connect to the reporting tool! The only way to do it is by using an external internet solution to harvest the data, then switch network cables to import that data.
And the coup de grace - apparently the DSL connection that has been routed into my office is tenuous at best. Periodically, the router has to be reset to restore connection. The best part of this situation? It is located in a network room that nobody seems to have access to! Brilliant!
So sometime today, I have to go home and run some reports on my personal internet connection just so I can get this nonsense done with.
It's a good thing we're an IT company and know what we're doing.
Link of the Moment: Since I shared my drudgery, how about some imagination? Head on over to GE's Imagination At Work and draw some pictures by yourself or with some friends.
Previously, I was working with three sources of data, two of which were different instances of the same product. However, in the infinite wisdom of contract logic, one of those sites was moved to the corporate offices and placed on a different product altogether.
It gets interesting from there. Normally, I don't mind learning something new. Heck, the promise of learning tends to keep me occupied when I would have otherwise moved on. Typically, I mine data through direct connections to the databases in question, then use my own custom tools to blend that data together into something meaningful. If you aren't an IT sort of person, you may not realize that this opens the door to automation - the holy grail of periodic reporting.
Now, for this third data set, I have to run manual stock reports out of that system, then figure out a way to import it into something meaningful. And yes, as my narrative suggests, this removes all ability to automate this process. It becomes a manual and cumbersome procedure.
But it gets better - due to network protocols at my site, no VPN connections may traverse the firewall in an outbound vector originating from a network computer. Since the new site is now off the customer network, I can't even connect to the reporting tool! The only way to do it is by using an external internet solution to harvest the data, then switch network cables to import that data.
And the coup de grace - apparently the DSL connection that has been routed into my office is tenuous at best. Periodically, the router has to be reset to restore connection. The best part of this situation? It is located in a network room that nobody seems to have access to! Brilliant!
So sometime today, I have to go home and run some reports on my personal internet connection just so I can get this nonsense done with.
It's a good thing we're an IT company and know what we're doing.
Link of the Moment: Since I shared my drudgery, how about some imagination? Head on over to GE's Imagination At Work and draw some pictures by yourself or with some friends.
posted by Kojubat at
08:20
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