Sounds like it was at an IBM facility... "IBM responded by saying it had launched an independent investigation into the power outage which appeared to have been caused by a failed oil pressure sensor on a back-up generator."
ALSO: "Bank of New Zealand was also affected by the outage. BNZ spokeswoman Dee Crooks said a number of staff worked "throughout the day" to restore online banking." Here's the complete article: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/2957307/Air-NZ-launches-into-IBM Air NZ launches into IBM Air New Zealand could potentially seek millions of dollars in compensation from IBM after a "catastrophic" failure of its check-in and booking computer system. More than 10,000 passengers were left stranded at airports nationwide on Sunday when a back-up power generator failed at IBM's Newton Data Centre in Auckland, causing the system to crash on the last day of the school holidays. Air New Zealand staff resorted to hand-writing passenger boarding passes one aircraft at a time, causing delays of up to two hours. It took about six hours for the computer services to be restored. Customers around the world could not book online for several hours, costing the airline "millions of dollars of revenue not going through our online site", said Air New Zealand's head of short-haul airlines Bruce Parton. Air New Zealand executives sought answers at a series of meetings with IBM yesterday. Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe launched a scathing attack on IBM, labelling the global computer giant's slow response to the crisis "amateur". "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. We were left high and dry and this is simply unacceptable," Mr Fyfe told staff in a memo. "My expectations of IBM were far higher than the amateur results that were delivered yesterday." Mr Fyfe has ordered a full review of the options available to ensure the airline had "an IT supplier whom we have confidence in and is fully committed to our business". IBM responded by saying it had launched an independent investigation into the power outage which appeared to have been caused by a failed oil pressure sensor on a back-up generator. IBM had dispatched 32 staff and called on help from overseas to restore the systems. "We regret any inconvenience caused to our clients or their customers." DLA Phillips Fox information technology lawyer Brian Bray said damages clauses in a contract typically allowed claims for actual costs and losses incurred as a result of a service failure. In the case of Air New Zealand that could include the cost of using extra staff, compensation paid to affected passengers, and lost sales. There could also be penalties payable for poor service. However, the total amount of a claim would normally be capped, Mr Bray said. Whether Air New Zealand could terminate its contract with IBM early would depend on the terms of the agreement. Ad Feedback Usually the provider would be given notice to show that the problem could be fixed before a contract was cancelled. Bank of New Zealand was also affected by the outage. BNZ spokeswoman Dee Crooks said a number of staff worked "throughout the day" to restore online banking. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
