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The absolute worst scenario happened

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Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#131

Post by viraptor »

notyourday wrote: post #123
viraptor wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's the possibility that those employees are happily retired and don't care. Or they're just not available in many ways. I know of a hospital which is still refusing to migrate off of a system which is not supported for a decade. Pay more money? 3 people worked on it: Adam had a stroke, Bob retired with enough money, Charlie left the country.

I bet if the hospital is to pay Bob/Charlie $1M for 6 months, post tax to fix it they would gladly do it. Note: this does not mean "We will pay you up to a million dollars, Net 90, after an invoice is approved and signed off by fifteen people". This means "We will wire a deposit of $250,000 today. The rest will be wired every month in 24 hours after an invoice is issued" The reality is company execs like to talk abou…

For $1M they can get the new version of the same system installed and likely get a step by step walkthrough of the whole thing by any number of new engineers they want. Also it's a public hospital - for a fraction of $1M they could get people who's only job is to replicate that system running around with pen and paper - they wouldn't have $1M to just drop on a support issue the same day.

In context of this case - if they don't have money to fix their backups (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26539988) they likely couldn't drop lots of cash without a serious credit line.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#132

Post by drclau »

tw04 wrote: post #88

I actually don't see any issue that isn't simply a matter of money. Everything they list that's an issue seems to revolve around the fact that the employees with domain knowledge for the system have left the company. Reach out to them and hire them on as contractors. If they left under bad terms because the business was a bunch of dicks, expect to pay 10x market rate. If this is truly "fix this or the business is out…

Not really related to the subject of the article, but your comment reminds me of employers in Romania complaining they can't find people to hire, while they offer small salaries and people just leave the country for better paying jobs abroad. The solution to their problem is really simple: make better offers.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#133

Post by jiggawatts »

mysterydip wrote: post #113
raverbashing wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd say if it was such a house of cards, my best bet is that this security chain is full of holes. Maybe the ERP used a fixed password, which can be guessed/bruteforced.

honestly, "password" would be my first guess.

Oh come now, there are password complexity policies in place in any modern software! Try: password123.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#134

Post by driton »

CaptainZapp wrote: post #95
alistairSH wrote: post #89

Tangent Alert! I have a 3 months resignation period, so I can't even leave... Maybe it's my (US) American experience, but being unable to quit a job strikes me as a terrible policy. This guy(gal?) is really required to submit 3 months notice or face some sort of repercussions (financial, I assume)? Does this 3 month period apply in reverse (employer can't fire employees without a full 3 month warning)? Not that the A…

> Does this 3 month period apply in reverse (employer can't fire employees without a full 3 month warning)? Of course. Different notice periods for employers and employees would be outright illegal in most of Europe.

I am in the Netherlands, and my current contract stipulates that should they want to get rid of me, the company has to notify me 4 months in advance, whereas should I want to leave, I need to notify them 2 months in advance.

Do you have any sources on the legality of different notice periods in Europe?

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#135

Post by Aeolun »

paulz_ wrote: post #86
4e530344963049 wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you have been that person before, it can be fun and exciting to think up solutions and implement them under pressure. Definitely a real test in your ability to concentrate. But don't expect the credit you deserve for it, and don't even expect others to even bother to put in any effort towards fixing things. Also, make sure everyone knows you are going on vacation once you resolve things.

These types of situations always wind up being the most fun I have at work and leave me feeling most fulfilled. I wish I could do that all day instead of going to standups.

Come work for our company! We have an infinite amount of fires to put out.

To be fair, the number of fires is finite, new ones are just getting started faster than they are put out.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#136

Post by mkl »

xchaotic wrote: post #72
benlumen wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks. Reddit is such a good example of how "progress" hasn't really been progress in web development. The new front-end framework site is so much slower and more buggy.

wow, it was so much better before. What the heck? Who made the decision to switch?

They want people using their app, for some reason I don't understand. Maybe to make ad-blocking harder by getting people off computers where it's easy (most mobile browsers don't support plugins, so it can't be about them).

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#137

Post by Leherenn »

wonderwonder wrote: post #87
ACS_Solver wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perfectly common in large parts of Europe. I also have a 3 months notice period, which is pretty much the standard here in Sweden for tech workers or other highly-qualified occupations. For very senior positions, 6 months isn't unheard of. It goes both ways of course, my employer is also bound by the 3 month period in case they want to fire me.

How does getting a new job work? You tell the new company that you have to give 3 months notice? That's some long term planning on the part of the hiring company.

Yes exactly. Sometimes they ask you if you can negotiate with your employer to shorten this period, which is often the case.

Of course, they would rather it was shorter, but hiring is already a multi-months long process in most cases, so a few more months is inconvenient, but not the end of the world. If you need someone now, you hire contractors.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#138

Post by airhead969 »

50% of companies who lose all of their data go out of business within 6 months. They clearly failed to test their backups with regularly-tested restores. And, a separate alternative system should've had multiple revisions of critical pieces of information like customers, assets, inventory, bank accounts, debts, and employees.

A data recovery shop could attempt to forensically-reconstruct SMS numbers. Look for logs and other places critical deets might be found. Try your best to get things back and make alternatives processes to piece together what you can. A phone carrier or SMS send provider might have a log of phone numbers. The paycheck company may even have the address of everyone. Send them a $0.01 paycheck with a note on them to call in.

I would ride it out for a paycheck because it's not like it could get worse than going under. Just be sure to get paid.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#139

Post by intrasight »

drclau wrote: post #132
tw04 wrote: post #88

I actually don't see any issue that isn't simply a matter of money. Everything they list that's an issue seems to revolve around the fact that the employees with domain knowledge for the system have left the company. Reach out to them and hire them on as contractors. If they left under bad terms because the business was a bunch of dicks, expect to pay 10x market rate. If this is truly "fix this or the business is out…

Not really related to the subject of the article, but your comment reminds me of employers in Romania complaining they can't find people to hire, while they offer small salaries and people just leave the country for better paying jobs abroad. The solution to their problem is really simple: make better offers.

That is, of course, the solution everywhere that companies complain about not being able to hire skilled employees. Fund it and they will come.

Re: The absolute worst scenario happened

#140

Post by notyourday »

viraptor wrote: post #131
notyourday wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I bet if the hospital is to pay Bob/Charlie $1M for 6 months, post tax to fix it they would gladly do it. Note: this does not mean "We will pay you up to a million dollars, Net 90, after an invoice is approved and signed off by fifteen people". This means "We will wire a deposit of $250,000 today. The rest will be wired every month in 24 hours after an invoice is issued" The reality is company execs like to talk abou…

For $1M they can get the new version of the same system installed and likely get a step by step walkthrough of the whole thing by any number of new engineers they want. Also it's a public hospital - for a fraction of $1M they could get people who's only job is to replicate that system running around with pen and paper - they wouldn't have $1M to just drop on a support issue the same day. In context of this case - if…

That's called priorities. I'm sure as every public hospital it pays a lot money in salaries to those protecting and growing their personal fiefdoms within the hospital.
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