A university hosts a department of archaeology, a department of natural history, and a medical school. The three faculties decided to jointly produce an openly accessible, widely advertised online archive to display documents and images of their holdings, including static medical images of archaeological and zoological artifacts. The system will also contain links to the catalog of the university's library so one can research related holdings. The system will be built by the university's IT department with occasional assistance from the computer science department. Funding will be provided by the national government and private foundations. Quick response times are an explicitly but vaguely stated condition for funding. As a performance engineer, you have been asked to join the team that will design and build this system.
• Identify the stakeholders who have an interest in response time requirements. Explain the possible range of resource requirements and time needed for the delivery of images and captions.
• What kinds of activities should the response times include?
• At what points in the delivery chain does a response time begin and end?
• How will you negotiate response time budgets with the various stakeholders?
Stakeholders
Full Answer Section
- The departments of archaeology, natural history, and medicine, which are providing the content for the system. They need to make sure that the system can handle the expected traffic and that the response times are not too slow.
The possible range of resource requirements and time needed for the delivery of images and captions will depend on a number of factors, including:
- The size and complexity of the images and captions.
- The number of users accessing the system at the same time.
- The bandwidth of the network connection.
- The efficiency of the system's design.
The following kinds of activities should be included in the response time requirements:
- The time it takes to retrieve the image or caption from the database.
- The time it takes to render the image or caption on the user's screen.
- The time it takes to download the image or caption over the network.
The response time begins when the user requests an image or caption and ends when the image or caption is displayed on the user's screen.
To negotiate response time budgets with the various stakeholders, I would start by understanding their needs and priorities. I would then work with them to develop a plan that meets their needs while also being feasible to implement. I would also be transparent about the challenges and risks involved in meeting the response time requirements.
Here are some specific strategies for negotiating response time budgets with the various stakeholders:
- Understand the stakeholders' needs and priorities. What are their expectations for the response times? What are their budget constraints?
- Work with the stakeholders to develop a plan that meets their needs. This plan should be realistic and achievable.
- Be transparent about the challenges and risks involved. Let the stakeholders know what challenges you expect to face and what risks there are to not meeting the response time requirements.
- Be willing to compromise. It is unlikely that you will be able to meet all of the stakeholders' needs perfectly. Be willing to compromise to find a solution that works for everyone.
By following these strategies, you can negotiate response time budgets with the various stakeholders in a way that is fair and productive.
Sample Answer
- The users of the system, who want to be able to quickly access the documents and images they need.
- The funders of the system, who want to ensure that their money is being used to create a system that is responsive to users' needs.
- The IT department, which is responsible for building and maintaining the system. They need to make sure that the system can handle the expected load and that the response times are within acceptable limits.
- The computer science department, which may be providing technical assistance with the development of the system. They need to make sure that the system is designed to be efficient and scalable.