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A few sites I've stumbled across recently....

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Unthreaded

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4556640/Did-British-Airways-overheat-warm-weather.html

Article makes some suggestions as to what caused the problem.

May 31, 2017 at 9:11 AM | Unregistered CommenterTinyCO2

The off site support team were tagged as 'the men in black' because whenever there was an upgrade, they'd arrive en masse in suites and ties. Invariably they left with half a dozen machines, non functioning, which I'd have to fix. The cry went 'please don't let the men in black touch my computer!'

May 31, 2017 at 8:58 AM | Unregistered CommenterTinyCO2

The problem is not the IT support being in India, it's the distance between the servers and the IT support. More, it's the signal of corner cutting it signifies. I worked in a remote IT position for a while as the only person with the machines and the 'support' 40 miles away. I was run ragged because of the number of jobs that just couldn't be done remotely and even if they could, people wanted me, because they knew that I couldn't just hang up on them if the text book instructions read out over the phone didn't work. 'Try turning it off and on' doesn't always fix the problem. The 'cheap' nature of the support was a sign of cost cutting elsewhere, like renewing machines and making sure that there were spares. What they did invest in was a repair contract and have a supplier contract. Theory went that there were economies of scale but in practice it was overly expensive and slow. For the same price of the two contracts I could have replaced every bit of IT equipment every 2 years and had spares sat on a shelf waiting for emergencies. Any fault could have been sorted in hours, rather than wait for repair people to assess the problem, order the part and come back to fix things. It wasn't even as if they'd transfer software and data.

Since the BA problem is most likely with much bigger and older equipment, the maintenance of them was probably quite specialist. Things like testing the backup equipment probably fell by the wayside because the people on site, didn't have the time or the energy. Company decline is very demoralising. Employees think 'why should I go the extra mile when they'll not even notice, never mind reward me for it?' Management often don't grasp what people do, especially if the job isn't regular. Those left are invariably harangued for not being able to fix something that they didn't know existed, never mind had any training in how it worked.

May 31, 2017 at 8:52 AM | Unregistered CommenterTinyCO2

On the other hand

I am very well versed on this subject. I suspect BA have been as unlucky as any other "Fortune 500" company can be. I strongly suspect it is nothing to do with outsourcing. BA didn't move thousands of servers to Delhi. BA didn't completely redesign their BCP procedures the day after outsourcing some of their services. If it didn't work "today" then it sure as hell didn't work 2 years ago. Guaranteed.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28380697-post167.html

May 31, 2017 at 2:55 AM | Unregistered Commenterclipe

From flyertalk.com Jan 18, 16, 9:54 am

Hi all, I'm just putting this link up here so that when British airways has an IT disaster similar to RBS etc, I can refer back to it.

From Unthreaded.

May 28, 2017 at 12:19 AM | Unregistered Commenter clipe

May 31, 2017 at 2:15 AM | Unregistered Commenterclipe

3 foot tall giant garden gnomes were unheard of, until Global Warming started.

http://your.asda.com/news-and-blogs/our-new-giant-gnomes-are-getting-people-talking-on-social-media

May 31, 2017 at 1:59 AM | Unregistered Commentergolf charlie

May 30, 2017 at 10:45 PM by golf charlie
"The big issue is BREXIT, and how the next Government deals with the EU."
True! Or, more accurately, it was true, until May started to add her baggage to the Tory manifesto.

All of this is down to Nigel Farage ...."
Nigel Farage isn't the UKIP's national leader any more, so it isn't down to him at all. He is just an MEP.

"Meanwhile, Trump has signalled the end of Climate Science funding, and policies derived from it ..."

CFACT: Left-wing heads will explode if Trump exits Paris

WattsUpWithThat: Desperate Paris Agreement Advocates: The USA is a “Rogue Country”, Better Off Out

And I think they will take the expected news in the same manner that they took Trump's presidential win.

Isn't US Politics wonderful!

May 31, 2017 at 1:03 AM | Registered CommenterRobert Christopher

May 30, 2017 at 11:27 PM | Pcar & Others

If a power surge/spike could/should not have caused British Airways computers to go into meltdown (whilst all individual planes remained airworthy), then what did?

I can understand an hour or two delay, being required to get someone on site, to replace circuit boards, but did someone have to fly from India to do it, (on non British Airways flights) and then get someone else to fly from India with the correct circuit boards, and a soldering iron with a UK 13 Amp plug? (Obviously the soldering iron would require a functional and reliable mains supply, that British Airways say they didn't have)

May 31, 2017 at 1:01 AM | Unregistered Commentergolf charlie
May 31, 2017 at 12:36 AM | Unregistered Commenterclipe

The Postcode Lottery

charity business

From one of their PR puffs in a local rag - pisstaking imho

"A minimum of 30 per cent of ticket sales goes directly to charities and players of People’s Postcode Lottery have raised more than £197million to date for good causes across the UK and internationally"

By definition that means that ca. 70% (£450 million) is trousered by ???

Sounds a pretty profitable gig.....


One of Greenpeace's biggest funders iirc

May 31, 2017 at 12:21 AM | Registered Commentertomo

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