Beginning Oracle Database 11g Administration From Novice to Professional

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CHAPTER 15 THE BIG PICTURE AND THE TEN DELIVERABLES
Scheduling: This section specifies what advance notice is required, what information
needs to be supplied by the requestor, what forms completed, and scheduling
constraints if any.
Prerequisites: Clearly documenting the prerequisites improves the chances that
they will actually be met. You might want to include a “nice to have” section.
Testing
This section describes what testing should be completed in a laboratory setting before the
“real work” can begin. Here are the reasons for testing:
a laboratory setting that duplicates the targeted production setting may uncover
deficiencies in the procedure.
last executed the procedure. Also, the Standard Operating Procedure may have
omitted some of the details, and practice in a laboratory setting will allow a less
experienced performer to supply them for herself or himself.
not be considered necessary, because the work is truly routine; for example, adding
a user. In other cases testing may not even be practical because of the huge
effort required to duplicate the target environment in a laboratory setting. If testing
is unnecessary or impractical, then the author of the SOP should indicate as
much and explain why.
Approvals
This section describes whose approval is required and the protocols to be observed—for
example, verbal approval, written approval, formal meetings, advance notice, and so on.
I have observed that most IT organizations fall into one of two categories:
. The performers are given free
rein to take suitable action. Performer morale is high but the situation is certainly
not desirable from a management viewpoint.
permitted to do the slightest work without the approval of “change czars.” Performers
chafe under the scrutiny and complain of delays and the effort expended
in submitting paperwork before artificial deadlines, attending change management
meetings, and answering questions from “change czars” who do not have
expertise in the subject matter.