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Proving the Existence of UFOs
by: Joe Roberts, Principle Consultant, BOCP
No matter which side of the UFO issue you fall on we can
all pretty much agree that proving (or disproving) the existence is pretty much
impossible. Why, because it is likely not a repeatable experience.
If you say you saw one in the swamp outside of town will I see one if I go
there? If I don’t see a UFO there does that prove that they don’t exist?
No. If I do see one does that mean I can prove their existence?
Probably not! UFO sightings are freak occurrences, or extremely infrequent
occurrences at best. How about if you show me a photograph of the UFO,
does that prove its existence? Well we all know the answer to that
question; how successful has that been so far in proving the existence?
So what does all of this have to do with Business Objects
Enterprise specifically or Business Intelligence in general? It speaks
directly to the process of troubleshooting issues on the platform. If you
spend your time trying to prove the existence of UFOs, it will be an exercise in
futility. Any real issues occur for a reason; they have logic and are
repeatable.
The first job of troubleshooting is to discover the
conditions under which the issue is repeatable. If a process runs 9999
times successfully and fails once, there is a reason for it. Isolating
that reason is the core of troubleshooting. That one time, conditions were
different. If they weren’t different the process would have been successful.
I know this sounds elementary to some of you but it is the
most often overlooked aspect of troubleshooting. I have re-enforced, time
and again, the importance of understanding the process flow and communications
within Enterprise based on the actions being performed, but this is only a tool.
An important tool but still only one of the tools you will need. Your
belief in the logic of the issue and the ability to recreate it are critical.
Another point of frustration can be the fractioning of
other areas of discipline. Often the issues lie in process flows outside
the confines of Enterprise. They can be network communications, web server
processes, web application server processes, network authentication, database
drivers and even databases themselves. The higher the level of cooperation and
dedication to solving the problem you get from these other areas of discipline
the easier it will be. Without that level of commitment you will have to become
an expert in the areas as well, a daunting task to say the least.
Remember, an anomaly does not an issue make! All real
issues are repeatable and will repeat give the same conditions. The first
job of troubleshooting is to recreate and repeat the issue. Don’t waste
time and money trying to prove the existence of UFOs. Leave that to the
government.
Happy hunting!
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