Start of Year
Reflecting on the first half of the year, it’s clear that I’ve navigated through some challenging waters. The year had an imperfect start, which pushed me far outside of my comfort zone. However, I feel good with the progress I’ve made and the lessons I’ve learned along the way. I have managed to realign my habits and I believe I am now on a more solid footing. The four priorities outlined for the year – being proactive and persistent, collaborative, attentive and responsive, and curious and experimental – have served as guiding principles. These priorities have not only helped me overcome the initial difficulties but have also shaped my day-to-day approach, setting me on a better path.
As part of the “Proactive and Persistent” initiative, I have performed well in managing and resolving issues in both JIRA and ServiceNow. To date, I have closed over 80 JIRA issues and 200 ServiceNow tickets, demonstrating my commitment to addressing and resolving problems effectively. In addition, I have remained actively involved in the Windows 2012 migration project, where I created various PowerShell functions to automate and streamline the migration process. These automations not only improved the efficiency of the migrations but also reduced the potential for human error.
In line with the “Attentive and Responsive” initiative, I have significantly increased my communication with both internal and external teams. I have been actively participating in Microsoft Teams channels, engaging in discussions, and providing timely responses to requests. I’ve also been proactive in email threads, ensuring that I respond promptly and effectively to any issues or requests that arise. In addition, I’ve been diligent in providing my new teammates with the information they need to perform their tasks efficiently. This includes sharing knowledge from internal sources like our Confluence pages, as well as from external sources such as official vendor documentation. This increased communication has fostered a more collaborative and supportive work environment.
I believe I have greatly increased my collaboration, both within the team and outside of the team. I have worked closely with Adrian on the systems team when build issues arise. During my on-call rotation, I work extremely well with Operations SRE, especially during incidents. This includes constant communication, either via Microsoft Teams or email. Within the team, I collaborated closely with the DR participants by developing various automation scripts for use during DR weekend.
As part of my commitment to being curious and experimental, I have embarked on a journey to learn Python, a language I had no prior experience with before this year. I have been taking courses on Pluralsight to gain a comprehensive understanding of this useful programming language. I’ve learned that Python’s versatility and simplicity make it a valuable tool for database platform administrators, as it can be used for automating tasks, analyzing data, and even interacting with all our databases. This learning initiative has not only broadened my skill set, but it has also opened new possibilities for enhancing our operations.
Future
Despite the challenges we faced earlier this year, I believe my performance is tracking well. The difficulties encountered have provided valuable learning experiences, and I am confident that the direction I am headed in response has strengthened my resolve and efforts. As we move into the second half of the year, I am committed to further enhancing our database and infrastructure operations by focusing on the key areas of being more proactive, persistent, collaborative, attentive, responsive, curious, and experimental.
To become more proactive and persistent, I plan to persistently follow up on issues encountered in our projects to ensure they are addressed in a timely manner. This includes issues that arise during the Windows 2012 migration effort and any future initiatives. Additionally, I will take the initiative to research and propose improvements to our current systems, such as implementing new features or technologies that could enhance performance or efficiencies.
In terms of collaboration, I aim to foster stronger relationships with the newer team members. I believe that by understanding their needs and challenges, I can better support them and contribute to the overall success of our projects. I will also actively seek feedback from the entire team and incorporate their suggestions into my work. Furthermore, I will continue to share my knowledge and insights about the current landscape with them, to help them understand how their contributions can elevate our projects.
To be more attentive and responsive, I will continue to prioritize addressing queries and concerns from our team and external teams promptly. This includes increased communication with the team on my weekly tasks, both during the weekly sprint roll and our daily stand-up meetings.
To satisfy my curiosity and foster an experimental mindset, I will continue dedicating a portion of my time to learning via Pluralsight about new technologies and practices in the database and Linux administration field. So far, I have taken several courses, Including Python 3 fundaments, Python for Linux Administrators, MongoDB development via Pluralsight. I will also experiment with these new ideas in a controlled environment, such as a development or and test environments, to understand their potential benefits and drawbacks before proposing their implementation in our production systems.
In closing, I am ready to tackle what lies ahead, in the remainder of the year. I am confident that by being more proactive and persistent, we can anticipate and mitigate potential issues before they escalate. By fostering collaboration, I can leverage the collective knowledge and skills of our team to drive our projects forward. By being attentive and responsive, I can ensure that I meet the needs of my colleagues and stakeholders promptly and effectively. And by being curious and experimental, I can stay at the forefront of IT net practices and technologies, ensuring that our systems are robust, efficient, and secure. These goals align with our broader mission of delivering excellent service and value to DFA, and I am committed to doing my part to achieve them. I look forward to the progress we will make together in the coming months.