97 Things Every SRE Should Know

Chapter 23. Everyone Is an SRE in a Small Organization

Matthew Huxtable

Ziglu

“Site reliability engineering is the answer.”

Or so I thought, when I talked myself into my first SRE role in a small software company a few years ago. At last, a mechanism existed that articulated my work as a software engineer and systems operator—the ultimate exception handler of last resort when things go awry. The opportunity to adopt and implement the same approach for operations as is used by large multinational organizations ought to be exciting to anyone. However, it became clear that success would require going off script.

The SRE approach in small organizations is challenging. Resources are constrained, talent acquisition is hard, and the customer base cannot be taken for granted. The SRE practitioner’s task overwhelmingly combines a multitude of roles in seeking to do more with less. A technical background in engineering, systems administration, or operations is unlikely to be sufficient. Success in SRE requires deep emotional understanding, influence, and organizational context to advocate for change and foster a blameless engineering culture. Success in SRE means building a culture that prioritizes user happiness, an outcome only attainable when operating at the intersection of technical know-how and human factors.

Contrary to the standard textbook approach, creating a dedicated SRE resource ...