Growing the infrastructure.
WHAT CONSTRAINS GROWTH FIRST
Storage performance, usually.
WHAT ELSE CONSTRAINS IT
Memory per machine Network capacity Support capacity, which is frequently the real limit
WHY SUPPORT SPECIFICALLY
Technical capacity can be added faster than skilled people.
WHAT TO MEASURE
Accounts per machine, against resource use Support tickets per hundred accounts Which issues generate most tickets
WHY THAT LAST FIGURE
Fixing the top cause reduces load more than adding staff.
WHAT TO SEPARATE AS YOU GROW
Web from database Mail from web Management from production
WHY
So one component's load does not affect another, and each can be scaled independently.
WHAT TO STANDARDISE
Machine builds Configuration Monitoring Backup
WHY
Variation multiplies operational effort with every machine added.
WHAT TO AUTOMATE BEFORE SCALING
Provisioning, monitoring registration, and backup.
WHY BEFORE
Adding machines manually does not scale, and the gap is discovered too late.
WHAT TO PLAN
Procurement lead times, which are substantial here.
