Infrastructure

04/19/2004

So over Easter break I was on vacation with my wife and kids, along with approximately 65 million other families who descended on the greater Orlando area.

Someone at Disneyworld claimed it was one of the 15 busiest days of the year for them, and I believe it. The place was packed. You could get around, but just barely. Food lines were long, but fortunately there were a lot of little hot dog vendors with carts, so at least some food could be had with only a 5-10 minute wait. By judicious use of the Fastpass system and early arrival, we were able to ride everything we wanted to and had a good time.

Seaworld, on the other hand, did not have the infrastructure to handle the crowds. The shortest lunch line was measured at approximately 2.5 hours wait, and there were no hot dog carts to relieve the load. We were almost crushed in a stampede to get into one of the shows, in marked contrast to Disney where the lines are kept orderly, comfortable, and out of sight. It was so difficult to navigate with the crush of people and get to the attractions we wanted that we had to leave.

The difference in the two parks is simply infrastructure: Disney is built and managed to handle that high level of attendance, and Seaworld is not. Guess where we will not be going back to next year?

Software Projects have infrastructure as well, and it can support you through the tough times, or it can leave you hanging out to dry as the project crumbles around you. Unfortunately, many projects have infrastructure that isn’t even up to Seaworld’s standards: they are more like one of those traveling carnivals that set up in the parking lot of the mall. Only not as portable or as safe :-).

Can your project’s infrastructure “handle the crowds”, the crush and the pressure of that trade-show demo or important customer’s request? Or does it leave you starved and pummeled?