So many people come to us with a ³solution², instead of presenting us with their ³problem². They have some big picture, and want some small piece of it implemented for them. They have a restricted view of what is available, what the impact of what they¹re asking for is, and what other techniques could be used to solve their actual problem.
We have to be wary, recognize these disguised solutions, and ask the proper questions when they¹re presented, to get to the root of what the person really wants. And we have to do so without insulting the intelligence of the person making the request. In this case, the professor may not have even considered that the student might not be logged in at the four hour checkpoints, or that accounting data is actually collected by the system that could provide a much more detailed and complete view of his student¹s interactions with the system. He has just done the indicates by hand on occasion, and thought ³Wow, this information is useful; I wonder if there could be an automated way of getting it.² The best bet in this case, rather than blindly implimenting the professor¹s solution, would be to go back to him and find out what he really wants, or is really trying to accomplish. You¹ll both be happier in the long run, and you¹ll end up with things that might be useful to others as well. -- Robert P. Nix Mayo Foundation .~. RO-OE-5-55 200 First Street SW /V\ 507-284-0844 Rochester, MN 55905 /( )\ ----- ^^-^^ "In theory, theory and practice are the same, but in practice, theory and practice are different." On 6/24/09 1:56 PM, "Scott Rohling" <scott.rohl...@gmail.com> wrote: > My question is what the professor is hoping to determine.. because what he > wants doesn't sound very useful at all. If he's trying to determine how busy > they are -- he'd be better off using z/VM accounting records rather than the > INDICATE data samples.. > > Scott > > On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 8:52 AM, Mary Zervos <zer...@binghamton.edu> wrote: >> Hello everyone, >> >> A professor here would like an "ind user studentname" taken every 4 hours of >> his 80 students, with a report sent to him once a week. My question is, >> which vm software to use and how to collect the data in a file to send the >> professor. The professor will use his own program to extract the data he >> needs from the file. >> >> Thanks for any help. >> >> Mary Zervos >> VM Systems Programmer >> Binghamton University >> >
