Pages

January 22, 2006

This blog.

I've been at AOL for about 2 years now (yoinks, it goes fast). I've been working on revamping our applications and the infrastructure that support them for, well, pretty much that whole time. Its been slower going than I'd like, but we've reached at least the end of the beginning. That is to say, there's a LOT more to do still...

I hope that some of that journey is of interest, so expect to hear more about the what's, why's and how's. This is intended to be an "industry" blog - that is, lots of stuff about work and the industry in general.

To provide some context to future posts, my group shipped (I've been running the desktop applications group), over the last 6 months: AIM Triton 1.0 (www.aim.com), AOL Explorer 1.1 and 1.2 (some technology differences worth discussion there), Internet Access Controls 2.0 (parental web controls for Broadband), Computer Checkup 4.0 (, AOL Connectivity Service 4.0 (our connectivity engine), the AOL Suite 1.0 Preview, AOL AntiSpyware 2.0, and the AOL Security Center 1.0, among very many other things.

Scarily (other than ACS 4.0) its been basically all new code, on an all new foundation that we call the Open Client Platform (OCP). Despite various version numbers on the apps themselves, they're all basically 1.0 applications. By that I mean they share almost no code with previous versions (in any really recognizable form). Not sure its the path I would have, left to my own devices, chosen, but there you have it. As I tell my teams all the time: may not have been smart, but it is impressive. Here I'll share some of the gore :)

80 comments:

Sree Kotay said...

Ha! Well, mostly the comment was about rationally approaching deployment and scale. I think we (AOL), as a company, tend to suffer from the same thing I see in a lot of big companies: everything needs to be "big" right out the door, and that strain often is in direct conflict with the need to incrementally and iteratively develop infrastructure.

So I would probably have rolled out a few smaller things with fewer features and particularly, fewer requirements (more ITERATION, really). But we have this dichotomy (which is legimately tough to manage) of needing big projects to deliver big results very quickly - and ironically, trying to that almost always ensures that we don't get ANYTHING done ever...

Anonymous said...

How come you're not using AOL Journals for a "company" blog? Did you know it even existed?

mav said...

I can not agree more to your own comment. I keep saying this to our own PM teams here in Germany over and over again. We need to be faster, more flexible - just show the crowd what we have - or somebody else will do it.

Sree Kotay said...

anonymous, yes I'm aware that AOL Journals exists :)

For now, at least, its not the product for me.

That's ok - every product we make is not targetted at every user in its potential space.

Anonymous said...

Great Article! Thank You!

Anonymous said...

Thanks to author! I like articles like this, very interesting.

Anonymous said...

nice blog!

Anonymous said...

nice blog!Nice information

Anonymous said...

:-) ochen\' zaebatyj blog!

Anonymous said...

soglasen s vami ochen\' zaebatyj blog!

Anonymous said...

Keep up the great work. It very impressive. Enjoyed the visit!

Anonymous said...

AaUOUe You have a talant! Write more!

Anonymous said...

McDJPA Please write anything else!

Anonymous said...

9tbcdU The best blog you have!

Anonymous said...

JdqLCx Nice Article.

Anonymous said...

Hello all!

Anonymous said...

Nice Article.

Anonymous said...

actually, that's brilliant. Thank you. I'm going to pass that on to a couple of people.

Anonymous said...

Please write anything else!

Anonymous said...

Hello all!

Anonymous said...

Please write anything else!

Anonymous said...

CHx4Sc write more, thanks.

Anonymous said...

Good job!

Anonymous said...

Good job!

Anonymous said...

actually, that's brilliant. Thank you. I'm going to pass that on to a couple of people.

Anonymous said...

Hello all!

Anonymous said...

Hello all!

Anonymous said...

Hello all!

Anonymous said...

Wonderful blog.

Anonymous said...

Please write anything else!

Anonymous said...

Please write anything else!

Anonymous said...

Good job!

Anonymous said...

Hello all!

Anonymous said...

C++ should have been called B

Anonymous said...

When there's a will, I want to be in it.

Anonymous said...

Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake!

Anonymous said...

Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake!

Anonymous said...

C++ should have been called B

Anonymous said...

I'm not a complete idiot, some parts are missing!

Anonymous said...

A lot of people mistake a short memory for a clear conscience.

Anonymous said...

Ever notice how fast Windows runs? Neither did I.

Anonymous said...

640K ought to be enough for anybody. - Bill Gates 81

Anonymous said...

Save the whales, collect the whole set

Anonymous said...

Wonderful blog.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to author.

Anonymous said...

The gene pool could use a little chlorine.

Anonymous said...

Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake!

Anonymous said...

Save the whales, collect the whole set

Anonymous said...

Magnific!

Anonymous said...

Oops. My brain just hit a bad sector.

Anonymous said...

What is a free gift ? Aren't all gifts free?

Anonymous said...

Oops. My brain just hit a bad sector.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to author.

Anonymous said...

Build a watch in 179 easy steps - by C. Forsberg.

Anonymous said...

Clap on! , Clap off! clap@#&$NO CARRIER

Anonymous said...

What is a free gift ? Aren't all gifts free?

Anonymous said...

Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake!

Anonymous said...

Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

Anonymous said...

Thanks to author.

Anonymous said...

I don't suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it.

Anonymous said...

A flashlight is a case for holding dead batteries.

Anonymous said...

Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

Anonymous said...

When there's a will, I want to be in it.

Anonymous said...

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

Anonymous said...

When there's a will, I want to be in it.

Anonymous said...

Magnific!

Anonymous said...

A lot of people mistake a short memory for a clear conscience.

Anonymous said...

Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

Anonymous said...

Suicidal twin kills sister by mistake!

Anonymous said...

Build a watch in 179 easy steps - by C. Forsberg.

Anonymous said...

Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies.

Anonymous said...

If ignorance is bliss, you must be orgasmic.

Anonymous said...

If ignorance is bliss, you must be orgasmic.

Anonymous said...

640K ought to be enough for anybody. - Bill Gates 81

Anonymous said...

When there's a will, I want to be in it.

Anonymous said...

Friends help you move. Real friends help you move bodies

Anonymous said...

Please write anything else!

Anonymous said...

Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

Anonymous said...

Give me ambiguity or give me something else.

Anonymous said...

Hello all!