Live data from Hacker News

Over 170k Nonprofits Lost All Their Data. Is Microsoft to Blame?

slate.com

61–70 of 166 posts

Re: Over 170k Nonprofits Lost All Their Data. Is Microsoft to Blame?

#63
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Disclosure: I work at Microsoft. But I also am the volunteer IT guy at a nonprofit, and am speaking entirely in that context. I was quite unhappy to get a mail back in (checks archives) January that our grant would be discontinued and we’d either have to make do with the web versions of things, migrate someplace, or start paying. They also reminded us several more times before the drop date. I don’t really under…

If 150,000+ organisations were caught by surprise, I would say it’s clear whatever communication they had was not adequate. Organisations that didn’t have an off-boarding option (do nothing, pay the minimum, I’ll deal with it) selected should receive monthly reminders, then every 2 weeks (to multiple people), and one per week until a VERY alarming one the week before. And, of course, have all systems shut down and th…

I think we should take the headline claim that "over 170k nonprofits lost all their data" with a huge grain of salt.

As far as I can tell, the only source for that claim is:

> And he later learned he wasn’t alone, when another company service representative called the very next day and told him that roughly 171,000 small nongovernmental organizations “lost everything” in their OneDrive accounts.

So a second hand account of remarks said over the phone by a low level employee/contractor.

That's an interesting data point to follow up on, but using a single indirectly relayed statement to make such a substantial claim doesn't seem consistent with journalistic standards.

Re: Over 170k Nonprofits Lost All Their Data. Is Microsoft to Blame?

#64
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Disclosure: I work at Microsoft. But I also am the volunteer IT guy at a nonprofit, and am speaking entirely in that context. I was quite unhappy to get a mail back in (checks archives) January that our grant would be discontinued and we’d either have to make do with the web versions of things, migrate someplace, or start paying. They also reminded us several more times before the drop date. I don’t really under…

If 150,000+ organisations were caught by surprise, I would say it’s clear whatever communication they had was not adequate. Organisations that didn’t have an off-boarding option (do nothing, pay the minimum, I’ll deal with it) selected should receive monthly reminders, then every 2 weeks (to multiple people), and one per week until a VERY alarming one the week before. And, of course, have all systems shut down and th…

Sounds like they’re struggling for cash flow if they’re doing stupid shit like this

Re: Over 170k Nonprofits Lost All Their Data. Is Microsoft to Blame?

#65
post #19
post #3

Cloud is nice if it works. Web hosting is nice if you pay for it. In history timeline, future archaeologists will probably see almost nothing, some books… as we are used to past centuries. But clouds, servers… gone. BTW don’t use SSD for archiving.

Never keep your data and your backups in the same place. That’s true for in-office servers, data-centres and cloud. If you must use cloud, use two different providers for your own services and backups. Also, have a disaster recovery plan ready, and exercise it regularly.

Maybe I am in echo chamber, but none I know exercised recovery plan… ;) except of power plants and othe critical infrastructures, and maybe large enterprises. Others imho use 3–2-1 approach but haven’t tried to recover data.

Re: Over 170k Nonprofits Lost All Their Data. Is Microsoft to Blame?

#66
post #39
post #3

Cloud is nice if it works. Web hosting is nice if you pay for it. In history timeline, future archaeologists will probably see almost nothing, some books… as we are used to past centuries. But clouds, servers… gone. BTW don’t use SSD for archiving.

As a society we actually generate a lots of books. Future generations wouldn’t be missing too much without the internet I think. Also, not everything is worth preserving. Easily 90% of Reddit is complete garbage

Sure 90% of internet is foam of days.

Re: Over 170k Nonprofits Lost All Their Data. Is Microsoft to Blame?

#67
post #40
post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does "serious" mean in this context?

In this context it would presumably mean not casually deleting your customers' data. When people say a company is unserious they almost always mean that they're not thinking about, and taking seriously, the work that their customers do. This seems like a classic example of that.

Unprofessional or irresponsible are more applicable.

Some define a standard others set it. This came up when my employer was applying for business continuity insurance

Re: Over 170k Nonprofits Lost All Their Data. Is Microsoft to Blame?

#69

Yep, this is the sort of thing happens when you've deeply internalized that trustworthiness and continuity is not important. Microsoft today is not a serious company, it is not run by serious people, and it is at the forefront of a deeply unserious industry.

It's what happens when you don't have a backup strategy. Even paper works as a backup.

Selling backup for data that is stored in the cloud (whether selling solution as a provider or selling any solution (even free one) internally to your team), is one of the hardest things in the world.

Re: Over 170k Nonprofits Lost All Their Data. Is Microsoft to Blame?

#70
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. Disclosure: I work at Microsoft. But I also am the volunteer IT guy at a nonprofit, and am speaking entirely in that context. I was quite unhappy to get a mail back in (checks archives) January that our grant would be discontinued and we’d either have to make do with the web versions of things, migrate someplace, or start paying. They also reminded us several more times before the drop date. I don’t really under…

Does that mean it is 170000 * 10 * 3 = 5,100,000 per month (assuming 10 users per org)? Isn’t that less than found in the cushion level money for a trillion dollar company?

The same company that puts ads to their weather app on their desktop OS you mean?

Or managed to turn the good old notepad into a CVE 8 vulnerability?

Kidding aside, some bean counter somewhere thought that’s $5M revenue lost, instead of helping the community they’re supposedly a part of.

Post reply on HN