Just in time - autonomics in action

Last week I was teaching a DB2 Bootcamp. The class room had big window fronts to the South-West and to the North-West and shortly after lunch the sun started to shine inside. First, it was only very bright, then even I in the front could notice how the temperature inside the room started to increase. After a few minutes the outside sun shades started to come down, finally stopping in a position that still left the nice daylight inside, but blocking the sun.

About half an hour later, it was time for me to start the presentation about "Practical Autonomics in DB2". They let you keep focused on your actual high-value job by taking care of mostly routine tasks. Autonomic Building Maintenance or Building Automation is exactly the same. I didn't need to worry about regulating the temperature or light. Sensors and some "smart algorithms" took care of it, so that I could concentrate on a more valuable job, delivering a presentation and transferring skills.

Do autonomics always give the best, the optimal results? No, but they get close to it without any human intervention. For the class room, it would have required keeping an eye on the temperature and pressing buttons to control the sun shades. Most of all, it would have required to take focus off the teaching and worrying about things a computer, in most of the cases, could do better. The same for autonomics in DB2.