Web Operations: the canary in the IT Management coal mine

Rob England (The IT Skeptic), recently wrote some very nice things about this blog.

After I got over the fact that one of my favorite bloggers is writing about this blog, I realized that his post does raise a good question: If good IT Management is good IT Management not matter what business you are in, why does this blog focus so much on the Web Operations perspective?

Part of the reason is that Web Operations is the world that Alex and I live in on a daily basis (via ControlTier... helping e-commerce and SaaS companies improve the efficiency and reliability of their operations).

The other part of the reason is that we see Web Operations as the canary in the coal mine for IT Operations. When a company's entire business is operating software as revenue producing service, the shortcomings and the successes of your IT Operations goes right to your bottom line. The tolerance for the status quo dissipates a lot quicker and there is stronger political will to think outside of the box.



Put it this way, pretend you're the CEO of a Fortune 100 size company that makes aircraft engines or automobiles. Where is improving the efficiency and reliability of your IT Operations going to fall on the list of things you worry about every day? 32 on a top 50 list might be generous.



Now pretend you are the CEO of an online company whose sole source of revenue comes from what you can generate through your website. Suddenly the efficiency and reliability of your IT Operations jumps to near the top of the list.




Update: While people point out to me that I'm stretching the "canary in a coal mine" metaphor a bit far... I'm loading The Police's Zenyatta Mondatta album into my iTunes.