SE-Radio Episode 325: Tammy Butow on Chaos Engineering

Incident Management

In the realm of incident management, having a structured approach is crucial. Tammy Butow emphasizes the importance of having an incident manager on call, a role typically filled by experienced engineering leaders. This role involves managing incidents across all services, ensuring that the right people are available to resolve issues efficiently 1. A high-level dashboard is also essential for monitoring service health and meeting service level agreements (SLAs). This allows teams to quickly identify and address issues in critical services 2.

It's really good to have a technical lead on call. This would be actually the person who's on call for the service that is currently having some type of issue.

--- Tammy Butow

This structured approach not only separates incident management from resolution but also enhances the team's ability to troubleshoot and debug effectively.

   

Problem-Solving

Developing problem-solving skills is vital for effective incident management. Tammy Butow suggests that aspiring incident managers should actively seek training opportunities, such as shadowing experienced managers during incidents 3. This hands-on experience helps individuals learn to remain calm and think critically under pressure, skills that are beneficial both professionally and personally.

You learn how to be really calm. And like, my friends will always tell me outside of work if any type of issue happens. I'm so good at figuring out how to resolve things.

--- Tammy Butow

By cultivating these skills, individuals can effectively manage high-pressure situations and contribute to a more resilient incident management team.