Collecting Specifications

“We need a database server.”

“Our mail server is failing. Get a better one.”

“We're hiring 50 new employees next month. Let's buy more disks for our increased storage needs. We should probably back that up too, right?”

You may have heard similar statements from your own management at one time or another—and you'll hear them again. Clients and management often make requests for more or better systems and services; making those requests and suggestions is their job.

Of course, not all requests are reasonable. You might find, for example, that fixing the problem with that pesky mail server is more cost-effective than purchasing a new one. You discover that the mail server's network card is dropping packets, and you know ...

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