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Due to failure in the IT system, it is not possible to run any trains today

ns.nl

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Re: Due to failure in the IT system, it is not possible to run any trains today

#201

Post by tonyedgecombe »

nine_k wrote: post #90
lmpdev wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SAP are more known for ERP than CRM They're absolutely colossal in size My ex-girlfiend's father is an engineer there in Baden-Wurttemberg - I'd characterise them as closer to something like Oracle rather than Salesforce

They are so colossal that switching to SAP usually means reworking company's processes to match SAP's, not the other way around.

One of my customers was taken over during their SAP implementation. The general feeling among management was the work had weakened them so much it made them vulnerable to takeover.

Re: Due to failure in the IT system, it is not possible to run any trains today

#202

Post by 2143 »

blowski wrote: post #122
joenathanone wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

'Those who can, do; those who can't, teach' -George Bernard Shaw

TIL that quote is _actually_ from George Bernard Shaw. https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/176500.html

And I thought it was by Khaled Hosseini.

(He wrote The Kite Runner (among others), which is a heartbreaking novel).

Re: Due to failure in the IT system, it is not possible to run any trains today

#203

Post by ilaksh »

joenathanone wrote: post #114
Agentlien wrote: post #110

This reminds me of the story one of my university teachers used to introduce himself. He was the most brilliant educator I've had, really passionate about making sure people could actually follow and so humble. The course was called "Digital and Computer Technology" and it was a first year course teaching you to build a CPU starting from logic gates and then program it with assembly. He said that when he had recently…

'Those who can, do; those who can't, teach' -George Bernard Shaw

Or maybe he was just smart enough to go for a steady job with less stress and humble enough to make a self-deprecating joke.

Re: Due to failure in the IT system, it is not possible to run any trains today

#204

Post by mark-r »

axiolite wrote: post #81
noizejoy wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe most trains in the world are grounded to this day. (Mixed metaphors always make me smile.)

Electrified trains have a lot of potential...

But they make it impossible to run short trains...

Re: Due to failure in the IT system, it is not possible to run any trains today

#205

Post by AndyMcConachie »

ChuckNorris89 wrote: post #185
rgj wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> sidenote: If anyone out there is an SAP specialist ns.nl looks like a pretty great place to work: 36hr week, 5 weeks vacation, pension, and free unlimited 2nd class + low cost 1st class train travel. Those are pretty standard terms here in .NL. 36 hours is considered fulltime by most employers, including government and semi-government. Pension is offered almost everywhere and at least 4 weeks vacation is the legal…

>36 hours is considered fulltime by most employers How standard is that in the private sector or non former state owned enterprises? I haven't looked at the NL market in a while but most tech jobs I saw back then were 40h/week.

Most private sector tech jobs in NL are 40 hours per week. But many private sector jobs are also flexible in ways that I've never seen in the USA. For example, allowing an employee to work 40 hours in 4 days instead of 5.

Re: Due to failure in the IT system, it is not possible to run any trains today

#206

Post by klausjensen »

Freak_NL wrote: post #175
Tabular-Iceberg wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m puzzled by the lack of resilience in retail sales. I thought “always be closing” was supposed to apply to all types of sales. A receipt pad and a credit card imprinter under the counter would be a very cheap backup. It would be slow, but at least they would be closing. It can even be considered a national security issue in the case of food, medicines and other vital services.

This is Europe. Credit card imprinters are rare if they were ever used at all. I've never seen one. The most resilient back up (especially in the face of national crises) is cash of course, but a growing group of people have stopped carrying any cash at all, and a lot of people in power are doing their best to make sure a cashless future is nearer each day. I don't mind paying with a debit card; I just want to have a…

I am in Europe as well, but I am probably older than you, so I actually have seen the imprinters in Denmark.

However, that was probably 20+ years ago. :)

Re: Due to failure in the IT system, it is not possible to run any trains today

#207

Post by AndyMcConachie »

The fact that it happened on a Sunday suggests to me that this is the result of a service outage gone awry. Realize that the trains failing on a Sunday is really not a big deal. However, if the trains don't run for Monday morning rush hour that is a big deal. I bet they made a change Saturday night and something broke Sunday morning.

It's now Monday morning here and the trains are back to normal in time for rush hour. So it's not really a big deal.

Re: Due to failure in the IT system, it is not possible to run any trains today

#208

Post by GekkePrutser »

Tabular-Iceberg wrote: post #187
Freak_NL wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is Europe. Credit card imprinters are rare if they were ever used at all. I've never seen one. The most resilient back up (especially in the face of national crises) is cash of course, but a growing group of people have stopped carrying any cash at all, and a lot of people in power are doing their best to make sure a cashless future is nearer each day. I don't mind paying with a debit card; I just want to have a…

I'm in Europe too, and I have never seen an imprinter either, but I keep being issued cards with embossed numbers, so I figure they must be good for something, if not imprinting, what else? I'm concerned about the phasing out of cash too as a separate issue, I just don't think the cashless options should have to be subject to artificial limitations like requiring electricity or a network connection to be able to be u…

Some EU countries don't issue credit/debit cards by default but they have their own system. The Netherlands is one of them. Such cards don't have embossing. You can get a MasterCard/Visa compatible card but it's not standard, though I believe this will change soon.

But of course the imprinting system is ancient and extremely prone to fraud. As is the magstripe. I wish we had a choice not to have the latter anymore. I'd gladly give up the ability to pay in places where magstripes are still used in return for more security against skimming. Here in Europe the magstripe is just not used anymore except for supporting foreign cards.

Re: Due to failure in the IT system, it is not possible to run any trains today

#209

Post by markus92 »

sofixa wrote: post #182
mikebos wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It has nothing to do with safety it's pure a who is where system.

Which on a train system is paramount for safety, otherwise you'd have trains crashing into each other because they're on the same track.

Different system, that'd be the switches/signalling. Freight and international trains were running just fine, safely. This was literally just planning which train (rolling stock) is going to operate which train (ride) with which personnel.

Safety could be related to duty times, or making sure the rolling stock is fit for a certain trajectory (maximum platform length, weight restrictions etc.)

Re: Due to failure in the IT system, it is not possible to run any trains today

#210

Post by mark-r »

wolverine876 wrote: post #164
mushyhammer wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> with people posting where they were/going and picking up other travellers. That’s ludicrous, I wish people helping other people this way was more common.

Imagine if we did that all the time! An online ride board.

... which would stop working if the computer went down.
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