We’re back with the third installment of PulseCheck, a new way for us to check in regularly with you and the broader THWACK community. Every two weeks, we’ll post a question on a topic that matters to IT pros. Sometimes serious, sometimes light, but always focused on capturing your perspective. We’ve slightly adjusted our schedule as we planned for downtime, which is now resolved.
If you’re new to PulseCheck, here’s how it works. Each poll is open for just under two weeks. Once it wraps, we’ll post the results, share some of the themes from the discussion, and introduce the next question. You’ll earn 150 THWACK points just for voting, and if you leave a comment that sparks conversation, you could be awarded an additional 300 points. If you participate in eight or more PulseChecks, you’ll unlock a limited-edition achievement badge.
It’s the end of the week. The weekend is in sight. But someone proposes a change… on a Friday. Is it a bold move in your IT world, or a fast track to a weekend on-call nightmare?
"Some things you love AND hate at the same time.Rolling out a change or deploying new stuff on a Friday has obvious advantages, like a lower impact to the business and more time to fix broken things. And here we are. Do we want to spend the weekend in the war room, driven by cold sweats while hoping we didn’t start a resume-generating event? Let us know how you deal with it. And while we are at it, do you have some stories to tell?"
@saschg
Now, let’s look at how our last PulseCheck played out.
We asked: How long does your team usually take to resolve an alert? The majority of you, 61% landed on 5 to 15 minutes as the average, with 15% wrapping it up in under 5 minutes, and 20% reporting it takes more than an hour.
Your comments showed that while many teams have streamlined alerting workflows, real-world response times depend heavily on context:
- Hardware issues or approvals can drag resolution out
- Some alerts self-resolve or reflect larger, slower-to-fix root causes
- And for many, the real bottleneck isn’t detection—it’s decision-making and access
One community member put it best: “Respond and resolve are two different things.” Others echoed that, noting that sometimes it’s not about speed—it’s about doing it right without affecting critical systems like an operating theatre.
Thanks again to everyone who joined in. Whether you voted, commented, or followed along, we’re glad you’re part of this.
Looking forward to seeing your take on this week’s question.
