Home Messages Index
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index

Re: All Of Our Systems Are Down


Verily I say unto thee, that ray spake thusly:
> On Wed, 11 Feb 2009 19:57:32 +0000, Homer wrote:

>> All of our systems are down ... because they run Windows.
> 
> Suggestion: next time you get "all of our systems are down", ask them
> "Oh - and what operating system are they running?" If MS thn explain
> there is a better way - probably not much traction, but you'll feel
> better (at least I would).

I have in the past, but I mostly find it futile to ask that question,
for several reasons:

1. The Customer Service Operator often doesn't know. Sometimes they
   don't know which system is responsible, sometimes they don't know
   what OS they're running, and in surprisingly many cases ... they
   don't even know what an "operating system" is. I have actually heard
   CSOs refer to /their CRM/ as "the operating system".

2. When I'm calling to (for example) cancel an account for a deceased
   relative, asking about operating systems is the last thing on my
   mind, and I'd feel incredibly awkward asking such a question under
   the circumstances ... or frankly, any circumstances not specific to
   IT (e.g. calling my ISPs helpdesk).

3. On the rare occasion that I speak to a CSO who actually knows what an
   OS is, they'll often refuse to give me any information about their
   systems, as a matter of company policy (presumably a security
   [through obscurity] measure).

4. In the event that I get an open, honest and knowledgeable answer to
   queries about "what went wrong", the answer is always the same ...
   Windows "went wrong". After enough of those responses, I just take it
   as read that this will most likely /always/ be the case, and the OS
   stats (if they are to be believed) support that position.

-- 
K.
http://slated.org

.----
| "Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It
|  is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves." ~ William
|  Pitt the Younger
`----

Fedora release 8 (Werewolf) on sky, running kernel 2.6.25.11-60.fc8
 21:35:35 up 98 days,  5:18,  4 users,  load average: 0.20, 0.29, 0.25

[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next]
Author IndexDate IndexThread Index