The document proposes a new workflow to streamline the storage request process. It recommends that application teams work directly with the storage administration team for physical storage allocation and associated costs, rather than going through the database administration team as an intermediary. This will reduce delays, confrontation, and make application teams more responsible for budgeting and efficient data practices. The document outlines the new recommended workflows for different storage-related scenarios.

1. Below is the published white paper I wrote that won an award in the IMF’s Financial and
Administrative Systems department. The first version is a copy as it currently appears on the IMF’s
intranet. The second version below it is simply a text version which is easier to read.

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Principles of Continuous Improvementand Calling Into Question
Unrealistic Plans and Practices
IMF Intranet (Financial and Administrative Systems Award Recipient)
March 6, 2014
This article provides a new and improved worked flow that will yield quicker turnaround, less
confrontation between all departments involved, make the application teams more responsible in their
budget planning process, and influence the application teams to think in more efficient terms of data
usage and storage.
I'm pleased to announce that the TGSIF leadership team has selected Jimmy Ferrara as the first
person to be recognized for Living the TGSIF Principles! Please join me in congratulating Jimmy! A
Living the TGSIF Principles poster has been placed on Jimmy's door. Please submit any additional
nominations to Laurie Husak.
Jimmy wrote the following to describe the situation and we think that it is an exemplary demonstration
of the Principles “we focus on continuous improvement” and “we call into question unsound or
unrealistic plans and practices.”
Jeffrey Modell
Division Chief, TGS Financial and Administrative Systems
International Monetary Fund
(202) 623-7523
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December2013 re: Tasks165440 and 171625
Task Description:“Increase the size of the tablespace 'IMFAPATTCH'to50GB. The record
IMF_PCSH_FA_TBL, whichwill be usedforstoringthe IERSClaimreceipts,willbe addedtothis
tablespace.”
The Issue:In orderto performthe requestedDDLonthistablespace,the physical diskstorage must
firstexist,otherwise the tablespacewillgrow until itconsumesitsdatavolume to100% capacity,
therebyputtingthe database inafrozenstate – all transactionsstopandno new connectionsare
allowed;essentially,takingaproductiondatabase offline.These typesof requestsare analogousto
a homeowneraskingforanadditiontobe builtontohishouse,yethe doesn’thave the acreage that
wouldallowenoughspace forsaidadditiontophysicallybe constructed.
The History:In the past, IFSAA’sdbagroupwouldplay“man-in-the-middle”andgoto IR’sStorage
Adminteam,andrequestthatthe physical space be allocatedonbehalf of the requesting
applicationteam.At$20 a GB fortierI storage,and $10 a GB for tierII storage,the firstquestionIR
alwaysasks,“Who’spayingforthis? – Out of what budgetshouldwe charge?”etc.Thisstarteda
roundof deliberationsbetweenthe applicationteamrequestingthe task,IFSAA dbagroup,andIR
Storage Admingroup – puttingIFSAA’sdbateaminthe middle.Afterweeks,sometime months,of
decidingwhere the fundsweretobe sourcedfrom, andwhateverdeals,underthe table or
otherwise were workedout(alotof “one time favors”or “we’ll pull the moneyfromhere fornow”),

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eventuallythe storage wouldbe addedafterwe hadtolistentovariouslecturesfromIRabouthow
they“can’t give awaythisstorage for free”,etc.Inthe endit was always a long,drawnout,and
painful processwiththe dbateamstuckin between:IRcomplainingtousthat someone hasto pay
for the storage,the applicationownercomplainingtousthat itwas not theirresponsibilitytopay
for the storage,or theydidn’tunderstandwhythe storage wassoexpensive.
My SolutiontoProcessImprovement:Withthistask,Idecideditwastime to pull IFSAA’sdbagroup
out of the role of playingthe middlemannegotiatortryingto“strike adeal”betweenthe requesting
application teams,e.g.,TGSIFHR,TGSIFFADW,etc.andIR’sStorage Adminteam.Iexplainedinan
email toBruce Ward that I couldnot performthe DDL on the requestedtablespace until the physical
diskstorage actuallyexistedinthe finprodvolumesandthathe would have tocreate anothertask
assignedtoIR’sStorage Adminteam, withPaul Hutchinsasthe assignee,askingfor50GB of disk
space to be allocatedtothe data volumes.IalsoinformedBruce thatIRwouldbe askingwhose
budgetshouldbe charged.
The Outcome & Benefit:Muchto hiscredit,Bruce understoodthe taskrequiredworkfromtwo
differentdepartmentsunderTGSandaskedYogesto create a new taskto create the physical disk
storage on finprodandassignitto IR. YogesfollowedthroughbycreatingTask171625. The benefits
were a quickerturnaroundwithoutthe dbagrouphavingtoargue betweenIRandthe requesting
applicationteam,IRwasable to getdirectanswerstocostingstraightfrom the applicationteamand
performthe taskas a directassignmentfromthem.IRthencoordinatedwithme whenthe physical
diskspace was presentsothatI could proceedwithmydbatask of performingthe DDL necessaryto
allowthe tablespace togrowto the requestedsize.
LookingAhead:Thisrepresentsanew andimprovedworkedflow thatwill provide quicker
turnaround,lessconfrontationbetweenthe three groupsinvolved,make the applicationteams
more responsibleintheirbudgetplanningprocess,andperhapsinfluence the applicationteamsto
thinkinmore efficienttermsof datausage and storage now that theyare aware that theirrequests
for more diskspace isn’tthe same type of diskstorage as buyinga $79 diskdrive atBestBuy.
DetailedWorkflowforGoingForward:Recently,therehasbeenmuchdiscussion thatIFSAA’sdba
teamis neededtospecifythe namesof the volumesandthe sizes…”etc.,andshouldmanage all the
tasksassociatedwithstorage.Partsof thisargumentare true for “new”storage as inthe creationof
a “newdatabase”.However,IR’sStorage Adminteamstill hastophysicallyallocate the storage,and
IR’sUnix Adminteamhasto mountit.In the case, as shownabove,where additionalstorage was
requestedtoanalreadyexistingdatabase,the dbateamdoesnotneedtoprovide thisinformation.
Therefore,Ihave listedthe properworkflow forthree,typical scenariosrelatedtodiskstorage
purchase or expansion:
NewDatabaseCreation:
1) ApplicationteamsubmitsataskrequesttoIFSAA’sdbateamsupplyingthe name of the database
to be createdand the size of its data requirements
2) Dba team updatesthe taskwiththe full pathnamesof the volumesandtheirsizes.
3) Applicationteam“copiesandpastes”thisinformationintothe requirementsfieldof anewly
createdtask assigneddirectly toIR’sStorage Adminteamaswell asworkingoutbudgetcharging
directlywiththem.
4) Once IR closesthe above task,the dba teamcreatesthe new database.

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DatabaseDDL Requiring AdditionalStorageto an Existing Database:
1) ApplicationteamconsultswithIFSAA’sdbateamto expandatablespace explainingindetailthe
reasonsforthissuddengrowth.If the dba teamdeterminesitisajustifiedrequestandconcludes
there isno otherway,e.g.,purgingoutolddata, etc.,the dba teamwill give them the greenlightto
create two tasks:
2) ApplicationteamcreatesataskassigneddirectlytoIR’sStorage Adminteamspecifyingthe size of
additional storage neededaswell asworkingoutbudgetchargingdirectlywiththem.
3) ApplicationteamsubmitsataskassignedtoIFSAA’sdbateamsupplyingthe name of the
tablespace tobe expanded
AdditionalStorageto an Existing Database(no DDLrequired):
1) ApplicationteamconsultswithIFSAA’sdbateamto increase physical diskspace forthe database.
If the dba teamdeterminesitisa justifiedrequestandconcludesthere isnootherway,e.g.,purging
out olddata,etc., the dba teamgivesthemthe greenlighttocreate the task forIR.
2) ApplicationteamcreatesataskassigneddirectlytoIR’sStorage Adminteamspecifyingthe size of
additional storage neededaswell asworkingoutbudgetchargingdirectlywiththem.