SCN: "SCN2" concern

[J. Johnson]

"SCN2":  To the extent this is a review and even a readjustment of SCN's
goals and priorities--fine.  But it could also be a major disaster, if
we do not carefully consider certain as yet unquestioned assumptions.

The major problem (that I see) is the implicit assumption (in some
quarters) that "SCN2" is a _replacement_ system:  That we buy a bunch
of new hardware, "set it up right this time", and then unplug the old
system.  (There has even been a suggestion of collecting a new "Ops2"
group to replace those obstreperous fuddie-duddie geeks now in Ops.)

Folks, the monolithic replacement approach (build a bigger, better
system, and just drop it in place) is an invitation to disaster.
(Trust me on this.  I have been a participant or front-row observer of
large software projects for about twenty years.)  Even after forty
years of development, that kind of process fails about three-quarters
of the time.  If you try to "re-invent" SCN without understanding what
went wrong the first time you lose the benefits gained, and you risk
making the same mistakes all over again. 

There is a better approach:  incremental improvements.  Determine (or
re-determine) the result desired, then determine what is needed to go
from where you are to where you want to be.  Then bite off a small
piece of work.  When that works go on to the next step.  Small bites,
but with a huge advantage:  with a shorter feedback cycle you don't
lose so much when the inevitable failures and unforseen problems--and
these are inevitable--force you to backtrack.

I suspect that one reason monolithic replacement fails is because it
is subject to grandiose overstatment of expectations.  And focusing
on the "big picture" it conveniently overlooks all the tiresome
details.  Do not be misled:  many of the difficulties SCN currently
faces are due to skipping over tiresome details.  Repeating that
mistake is not going to make anything better.

=== JJ =================================================================

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