Door number 1, number 2 or Window number 3?
You probably have seen, at least once in your lifetime, one of those "quiz" programs in Tv, where the various "partecipants" are forced to perform ridicolous things for the amusement of the viewer, and at the end, one of the poor bastards has to choose a "prize", that in most circustances are bullshit.
Well, I don't think it never happened that the "contestant" went out of script and tried to choke the presenter (but would have been very amusing I think) or, less amusing, simply refused to choose one of the option and tried to choose something else.
Well, let's for a moment ask ourselves how this could work out.
Presenter - Well, dear, we are at the end, now you have to choose your prize! So what's your decision? door number one, number two or window number 3?
Contestant - I want door number 4.
Presenter - No, I said door number 1, number 2 or window number three...
Contestant - Door Number 4!
Presenter - Hemmm... You didn't got me, I said one, two or three.
Contestant - I want number 4!
Presenter - No, that's not in the pool of choices...
Contestant - I don't care! I want number 4!
Presenter - Ok, dear viewers, we are at the end but this dumbuass doesn't want to choose so...
(the contestant attack the presenter and try to choke him yelling)
Contestant - I! WANT! NUMBER! FOUR!
Presenter - Help! Help!
(a group of assistants jump in the scene and try to rip the contestant out, a big-ass-fight break out)
Contestant (beating the presenter) - FOUR! I WANT THE FOUR!
(a picture with "technical problems" is placed on the screen).
So, after this ... speactacular introduction, we go back talking about $companyX, of which I had already narrated here and here. As you should (hopefully) remember, these peoples had a very obsolete system and wanted to replace it with something brand new, but they didn't wanted to spend the money to remake the billing procedure, that was used to get paid for this thing.
Since I had some time to spend, I started looking at how exactly this thing operate and build an inventory of all the bits that goes into it, and how we could "migrate" them. After several hours of cursing and poking around, I got an idea of how this thing is put together.
And since I am at it, I made a mini-analysis of how we could "optimize" the billing procedure.
And my idea is quite simple: this "thing" is a mail server, a fancy one, but still a mail server, so all the activity is messages sent from address "a" to address "b". And the billing procedure is, build a report of all the messages sent or received by an address, attribute the address to the correct customer, multiply by a specific number and you get the monetary amount. Ok, maybe a bit more complex, but not that much.
How many messages, from where, to where, those are in the logs. It doesn't matter what kind of messaging system, the details can vary but the core of the thing is there. What is required next is a "customers database". The kind of thing that any developer probably has done once a month in the past 10 years or something. And a "glue" table to connect each domain/mail address to a customer. And some information on how much they need to pay and that's it.
Ok, probably is a bit simplistic, but not that much. And at least is a beginning.
How long would it take to build something like this? At least the part that build the reports, ignoring the prices? A couple of weeks?
So I write down everything in a mail and send it to all the interested parties.
Of course, UL is against the idea. Especially the part where I propose to forget the whole thing and start simply from the log and THEN try to think at the billing. Ul insists that the billing part is a "mandatory requirement".
Me - Ok, if the billing is mandatory there are only 3 options: they put the money down, we put the money down or we drop the requirement.
UL - No, that's can be, the billing is a mandatory requirement!
Me - So is one of the first 2.
UL - No, they don't want to increase the budget.
Me - Then is on us.
UL - No we can't afford the budget. This project isn't that big.
Me - Dude, we have 3 options, you have to pick one.
UL - No the billing procedure is absolutely a requirement, we can't drop it.
Me - ...so?
UL - We need the billing.
Me - So they pay for it or we pay for it.
UL - No, there is no budget for it.
Me - ...so?
UL - The billing procedure is a mandatory requirements, can't be dropped.
There is never an assistant to drag the crazy guy away when you need it.
Davide
19/01/2021 12:53
) in un incubo 
