Classic WTF: Manual Automation
by Ellis Morning
in Feature Articles
on 2016-07-05
This article originally ran in 2014, and it's the rare case of a happy ending. They DO exist! -- Remy
Aikh was the new hire on the local bank’s data warehousing/business intelligence team. His manager threw him right into the hurricane: a project with the neediest, whiniest and most demanding business unit. Said business hated their unreliable batch process for archiving reports, and the manual slog of connect > find/create directory > upload > pray. They hoped the DW team would code to the rescue.
Eager to impress, Aikh sketched out a simple, automated client/server solution. The business quickly approved his design and estimates. To mentor and keep the project on-track, Aikh’s manager assigned Dean, a more senior developer, to help out.

What do you mean, “steam powered hammer?”
“I could really use a good library to transfer files via secure shell,” Aikh told Dean during their initial meeting.