Design Patterns in IT

[yesthattom]

Each “service” we provide has exactly one person that is the “primary service owner” and exactly one person that is the “secondary service owner.” We used to have some services with no owner, three owners, or “everyone on that team is the owner,” which is just as bad as having no owner.

The benefit of having exactly 1 primary and exactly 1 secondary is that there is no indecision about who is responsible for something, or who to contact, or when there is a problem who is responsible for getting the post-mortum done. (Not that they have to do the work, they just have to make sure it gets done.)

Having a single secondary owner is important for obvious reasons. This person is groomed to take over, which is excellent for career development.

In short, our policy is that every service has throat to choke... and a redundant backup.

Comments

[cinema-babe.livejournal.com]

We used to have some services with no owner, three owners, or “everyone on that team is the owner,” which is just as bad as having no owner.

I've done some project management in the Training and Development field and I can't imagine not having a lead and a designated backup. The idea of three owners sounds like a bit of a nightmare. Glad you all adopted a better policy.