I have opinions about many prevalent terms in the IT industry. As in any industry, there’s a plethora of jargon that only means something to us. My favorite <sarcasm> are the words and phrases that have multiple meanings or are used in different ways even within the field of IT. There are also some terms that lack widely accepted definitions, but rather, each company may define them somewhat differently. Today, I want to discuss one phrase that particularly irks me: “best practices.”
The Illusion of Safety and Reliability
Everyone wants “best practices” for everything. One of the first requests from management when you stand up new hardware or software is to apply best practices. Now, admittedly, it sounds great when you get something new to have it set up with “best practices” because that makes it seem like you’ll be ready to go from there with no alterations needed, right? If it’s set up in the best, most recommended way possible, nothing can go wrong.
Why “Best Practices” Rarely Make Sense in Reality
The term “best practices” evokes those thoughts even when it’s explicitly stated as recommendations for optimal performance or some other phrase suitable enough to remove liability when something inevitably goes wrong or does not work as expected. Now, why is that inevitable? Well, every environment is full of different variables that affect software and hardware, including, but not limited to, other software and hardware, permissions, access, resource load, people, customizations, and so on.
A Better Way to Think About Optimization
I tend to look at best practices similarly to a one-size-fits-all t-shirt. It will do the job it’s supposed to, and even well enough in many cases. However, it will be too big, too small, too bulky, too long, etc. for the individual. To look your best, what you really want is a tailored shirt. The same is true when setting up and optimizing in IT. As with clothes, the absolute best option is often well-tailored for the individual and the circumstances. However, this option is certainly more expensive, more time-consuming, and requires regular maintenance and fine-tuning.
