The "Invisible Effort" behind "Visible Results"

A couple of days ago while a colleague was complaining about how some end-users didn't value the effort he had put-in in making the application (he developed) work, my point was "its not specific to a system's users; most of us actually do not pay attention to the unseen effort behind-scenes".

What matters to us - as end users - is the result we get out of a product / service. 

I had an analogy in my mind, of an IT system and a Wash Basin which I shared with him and he asked me to summarize it as reference for those who may need it. You may know what he meant : ) 

"But are these two things similar in any sense?", you may ask. To me, they are in some way. See below I had inferred many of technology terms out of the wash basin scenario : )

Jargon may vary but theme could be same

We wash-up daily. While using the wash basin, we care (mostly) only about the water, which is the output after we follow a procedure of pulling the lever of a tap. We don't see the process whereby there's a flow between individual systems; from a tank on roof to the one on ground from where water is pushed up through a pump. In addition to the necessary infrastructure we have in place to basically see it working, there's regular operational tasks carried-out by janitors. And in some cases when the flow is stopped we may call an administrator to check "what's wrong?". Sometimes we even upgrade the amenities by awarding the contract to a contractor. 

Typical Terminologies in an IT environment 

• All IT Systems produce some output, of course after processing some input.
• The end-users follow procedures, sometime written and at other times not for being obvious, to get the result they want.
• To enable a procedure produce output, processes are followed; activities within & out of system.  
• The whole process is based on some infrastructure - necessary elements to make a system work.
• The system works fine until it is maintained and thus is operational. 
• The people involved in running the show are connected through a workflow which means one's output is input for other, which makes the process flow and let the system work. 
• If there's a requirement, we may even upgrade the system to new version which usually is done through a contract. 

Explaining context is important to ensure the message is perceived correctly

So just as in our scenario the visible wash basin has lot many invisible things behind it, the IT systems we see do have lot of effort to make it work the way we observe. Sometimes its good to think what's going-on in background, in addition to looking at surface.

What's your opinion? Share your thoughts. 

About

Faisal is an IT Professional. Within the ever growing technology, he specializes in SAP (a set of IT solutions which has transformed literally hundreds of thousands of businesses in unimaginable way in recent decades) and provides Consulting, Training and Support to assist organizations in benefiting from widely used IT best-practices. For details on his professional contributions, please visit his e-portfolio at www.saphcm.net.