I doubt that any manager in a position to decide about outsourcing will
learn anything from this. I remain convinced that outsourcing is a bad
idea if you are dedicated to providing your customers with the best service.
Doug Fuerst
Anton Britz wrote:
'Amateur' IBM brings down Air New Zealand
By Joe Fay • Get more from this author
The boss of Air New Zealand has launched an astonishing attack on IBM
after a catastrophic system crash crippled the airline and left
passengers stranded.
The massive IBM letdown could see the vendor turfed out of its contract
with the New Zealand flag carrier.
The chaos was down to a crash at the airline's mainframe, which is in
the care of IBM. The outage downed the airline's check-in desks, online
bookings and call centers on Sunday, Aussie paper The Age reports.
An airline spokesman told the paper that it appeared a power failure
caused the initial outage, but things were compounded by a delay getting
a backup generator up and and running.
The mainframe is maintained by IBM, which also manages the airline's
mid-range systems.
CEO Rob Fyfe placed the blame squarely on IBM in an email, which
inevitably hit the media almost immediately.
"In my 30-year working career, I am struggling to recall a time where I
have seen a supplier so slow to react to a catastrophic system failure
such as this and so unwilling to accept responsibility and apologise to
its client and its client's customers," he thundered.
"We were left high and dry and this is simply unacceptable. My
expectations of IBM were far higher than the amateur results that were
delivered yesterday, and I have been left with no option but to ask the
IT team to review the full range of options available to us to ensure we
have an IT supplier whom we have confidence in and one who understands
and is fully committed to our business and the needs of our customers."
IBM has said it "regrets" the chaos. It might be regretting things a
whole lot more later today. The Age reports that the airline was to meet
with IBM today.
If Fyfe pitches in, IBM could find itself booted off the account, and
having to find its own way home.
Luckily there are no reports of injuries in yesterday's chaos. This must
surely be down, in part, to Air New Zealand's innovative naked safety
warning routine, as reported by us back in July. ®
snip?>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
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