E-mail Administration Survey

Recovery-Oriented Computing Research Group
University of California, Berkeley


Results from the First Trial

You can see a PowerPoint presentation detailing some of our preliminary results by clicking here.

 

Summary
For those without PowerPoint, or for those not wishing to download the entire presentation, here is a brief summary:

  • Number of responses:  68
     
  • Common tasks (151 provided total):
    • Configuration:  56%
    • Upgrades/patches:  12%
    • Tool development:  1%
    • Repairs:  15%
    • Backup and restore:  3%
    • Monitoring and testing:  10%
    • User education:  <1%
    • Other:  3%
       
  • Challenging tasks (68 provided total):
    • Filter installation:  37%
    • Tool development:  6%
    • Configuration:  13%
    • Platform change/upgrade:  26%
    • Architecture changes:  7%
    • User education:  4%
    • Other:  6%
       
  • The acceptable unscheduled downtime during regular hours was less than an hour in most responses.
     
  • The percentage of users affected before immediate action is required was 1-5% in most responses.
     
  • Most responses had fewer than 5 unique problems.
     
  • The diagnosis vs. repair time tends toward more time spent diagnosing in most responses.
     
  • Trends in the comments:
    • High user expectations, especially as e-mail is often a critical service.
    • Spam is a tremendous headache, and the same is true for viruses and worms.
    • New technologies are useful, but more are needed.