When Computer Says No.

This morning I had an issue with a new server that I moving about 150 of my clients to. Much like your own desktop computer every few years you will need to upgrade and all the patching and software upgrades in the World wont replace the fact that eventually you need new hardware. But today I had an issue.

I rebooted the server for a technical reason I wont bore you with and it didnt restart. I have rebooted servers hundreds of times and it normally takes about 3 minutes. 15 minutes later it didnt come back and I knew I had an issue. Experience is a great asset in a time of crisis and working in IT for about 30 years now has taught me - computers dont work all the time. Honestly, IT systems aren't nearly as reliable as you think ... always have a plan B.

Crowdstrike Catastrophe

Consider the impact of the Microsoft software update rolled out last week that affected millions of Windows computers with he blue screen of death (BOS). A very small piece of code 41kb which is smaller than a Facebook icon was included by a security company called Crowdstrike - some say without testing into Microsoft's latest release for Windows and crashed alot of computers in industry sectors like Airlines, Hospitals, Banks, Hotels etc causing mayhem. The issue was resolved by uninstalling the update but as this had to be done manually by an army of tech dudes it took days, weeks ... probably still affecting some businesses.

Plan B

I spent almost 10 years working for Diageo as an IT manager in one of Europe's largest bottling and canning plants - www.macardles.ie which was heavily reliant on computer based system and had SAP at its core. What I learned from that experience is have a paper and pencil handy at all times. Better still have a big red folder with the words "Business Continuity Plan" in the drawer at the guy in the loading bay and security office who checked lorries in and out. We had the best kit money could buy and we still had about 10 outages per year - some short and some long where we had to just keep the beer flowing. If the computer stopped the guys knew to just take out the red folder which had printouts of blank dispatch docs. They started writing by hand and then just caught up when the IT guys like me fixed it.

Communicate in a crisis

Something companies seem to struggle with is communication in a crisis. You have to do three things when you are in the trenches. Find the problem, communicate to your customers and fix the problem. The middle one is arguably more important than the other two tasks to be able to reduce the noise and stress created from irate customers just wanting an update after all.

So I go into a mode where I :-

• Put up a notice on my own support system
• Reach out to my tech support partners for help
• Communicate via my website and social channels during the event
• Dont panic

When the issue is resolved I revisit all steps above and we are back to business as usual. This morning with the fast and professional help from Blacknight Internet Solutions Ltd I managed to resolve the issue with 60 mins and get systems back online before most customers even had their first cup of coffee and logged in. Having tech support partners who you can rely on and can resolve issues quickly without fuss is invaluable. I am hoping my customers say the say about Jascom Ltd

But then again I am hoping they didnt even notice ....

END.