The Post

Many people know how to approach problems and other dont. Sometimes you might just need a reminder of ways to solve technical problems or just some sort of guide for what you should/can do next…

This post is about that.. specifically focusing on delivering the solution (focus on “Day 1”) - continous support (“Day 2” onwards) we will cover in a different post.

Solving a Problem

Define the problem and learn as soon as possible what will be the target state - i.e. what is a solution to your problem? After you know what qualifies as a solution you can start working on it.

I usually split into 3 different phases:

  • Idealize
  • Execute
  • Finalize

Problem Solving Day 1

  • Security and Peer review:
    • Present the proposed solution and incorporate feedback into the design.
    • Use this step to identify the impact of your changes and communicate across the organization.
  • Operational readiness:
    • Produce playbooks, SOPs, and any sort of documentation required.
    • Setup alerts and dashboards based on load/performance tests if applicable.
    • Complete non-funtional, unit, integration, etc tests.
  • Open risks or pending requirements:
    • Remediate penetration test findings.
    • Remediate open issues related to security.
    • Any pending design or implementation adjustments?

Sometimes you might have to POC again after a design change - be flexible with this diagram… use it as a logical guide to get your problem resolved.