Main Responsibilities of a Site Reliability Manager at Google
As a Site Reliability Manager at Google, David's main responsibilities include managing a team of engineers and leading projects focused on improving Google Cloud's reliability, including "on-call duties" and reviewing design documents for new products. David's role highlights the unique Google philosophy of requiring managers to remain strong technologists, focusing on delivering software that is "more valuable than it costs to run."
Project Management, Leadership, Technical Skills, On-call Responsibilities, Observability
Advizer Information
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David Fayram
Site Reliability Manager
University of California, Santa Barbara
None
Computer Science
Energy & Utilities, Technology, Advertising, Communications & Marketing
Cyber Security and IT
Took Out Loans, Worked 20+ Hours in School, LGBTQ
Video Highlights
1. David's primary responsibility as a Site Reliability Manager (SRM) is people management, overseeing teams of 9-20 engineers.
2. He maintains a strong technical role, performing on-call duties alongside his team and contributing to projects focused on improving Google Cloud's reliability.
3. A key aspect of his work involves evaluating the cost-effectiveness of software, ensuring that the value generated outweighs operational expenses, which is a critical business consideration for SREs and SRMs.
Transcript
What are your main responsibilities within your current role?
I am a site reliability manager. This role is similar to a site reliability engineer but primarily focuses on people management. I've managed teams ranging from nine to 20 people.
I manage projects aimed at improving reliability for Google Cloud. This work involves many different aspects.
A key part of Google's management philosophy is that all managers must be strong technologists. For instance, I perform the same on-call duties as my engineers. I'm the first responder for issues related to the entire front end that ingests TCP traffic for Google.
I also work on various projects and focus on observability within Google Cloud. There's ongoing work in this area, and I help support new product launches. If a new load balancing product is introduced in Google Cloud, I typically review its design document and provide feedback.
Generally, I believe the most important function of SREs and SRMs is to ensure systems work effectively and provide more value than their operating costs. It's easy to write software, but challenging to create software that is more valuable than its running cost. This is where SREs significantly contribute business value.