And They are down again... (Part 1) GonzoMojo

This is another long one, just two or three parts

I'm enjoying my morning coffee, and I can hear that my sausage and eggs are about done. My phone rings, the work phone rings, and so it begins.

Me: This is ITGuy, what can I help you with today?

Shell-E: Hey, They are down again, I think they were up for 5 weeks this time.

I hang my head in defeat, they can only mean one site coming from Shell-E.

Me: Server is blue screened again? Or is it something else?

Shell-E: It's down, thats all they left on the night message, went down during the council meeting last night. Most of the council was aware of it this time.

Me: Ok, I guess you are on your way to the site? (I can hear her driving someplace)

Shell-E: No, they are the second stop, I was hoping you could talk some sense into someone and get this resolved.

Me: I'd have to ask if you have suggestions on who could resolve this issue, outside of Jules Verne and his Time Machine.

Shell-E: I don't know, this is the 6th, no 7th time this year, we've replaced everything we can replace on that old server. There isn't much else to do but replace the entire thing...

Me: ....and we can't convince the customer to do that, and it's not company policy to force upgrades on customers to save us trouble.

Shell-E: Now that's why you earn the big bucks.

Me: We all put in the effort for those nickels.

Shell-E: You get whole nickels now, wow, off here got another call.

I lay down the phone, in the refrigerator when I grab the orange juice, I sit and quietly eat my breakfast and try to decide how to resolve this nightmare.

This customer has a server that is 10 years old(at the time), and while that is fine in many other sites, this one has been nothing but trouble for the past two years. I think I know a way, but I'm sure it will upset quite a few people. I get ready and head to the office, with a rather cold phone in my pocket.

When I get in I ask for some time from a couple people, I know this is going to be a repeat of 6 weeks ago but it's worth a try. They all agree on a time, a location and the time roles around.

Me: They are down again.

It goes to show how wide spread knowledge of this issue is that they just groan, no one in the room asks who 'They' are exactly.

Me: I want to know if you have reconsidered forcing a decision on this site, or donating them a 'newer' server. We are losing money on this support contract, my tech alone is out there 3-4 times as much as any other site.

HWM(Hardware Manager): It's not your tech, it's my tech and I know how much time she is there.

Me: So 'your tech' called you at 6am to let you know They were down.

HWM: Well, no she sent me an email last night.

Me: So, my tech, is heading over today to start the reload. It's going to mean they are down today, and part of tomorrow. And I want to remind you that the only reason she can reload that server and UPDATE it is because of steps we took to ensure it was possible. Their OS is out of extended support, the updates are are gone through normal channels.

SVP(Software VicePres): Yes yes, we went over this last month, but we can't force them to upgrade, that's in the charter that we won't use our position to force any changes. If they won't upgrade on their own then they are not going to upgrade.

Me: So the final word is still, no we won't force them to upgrade, and no we won't give them anything.

HWM: We can't, if we give them hardware then we will have other people holding out for freebies.

Me: OK, I thank you for your time, I'll keep you updated on when they are back up and running.

HWM: I will keep everyone updated, she is my tech after all.

We chat a little, and then we all head back to our areas, on my way by the Supervisor, I ask him a few clarification questions.

Me: They are down again, Shell-E is on the job though, or will be shortly.

Supervisor: You shouldn't be involved in this, why are you always involved in this.

Me: Her Manager is a closet misogynist and I trained her on all of this stuff. If you want me to not have contact with these techs, then why do I always end up training them on everything?

Supervisor: Just cut the chain already, tell them you can't help and they should talk to their manager/supervisor.

Me: Yeah, that just makes them talk to their manager who send them where?

Supervisor: Back to you....

Me: Is my per diem on deployments still 1500 dollars?

Supervisor: 1500 per install, not day, but yes, if you need more you have to get approval.

Me: Ok, if it fails again within 2 months I'm going to go fix it.

He sits back and looks at me with one of those 'you better explain yourself' expressions.

Me: You don't want to know, it won't involve you in any way. You can say you were aware I was out at the site helping, but were not involved in the fix, and did not sign any document. Per Diem goes to the department so it will be the HWM that signs off on that for approval.

Supervisor: What if he doesn't approve it?

Me: I'll worry about that then, if it last more than two months I'll just help re-write their support contract for next year to cover the impact their old hardware is causing, with an upgrade escape clause.

Supervisor: I thought HWM does those support contracts?

Me: He does, but he doesn't, one of his staff does them and he just signs off on them. There is already a form letter for this that they should have been sent this year.

Supervisor: Just go pretend you actually work here, at times I wonder....

He looks to his monitor, so I get up and move out of the room quietly.

It takes Shell-E til 10pm that night to get the server reloaded and 'updated', then she works til 1 am restoring their files. She got it all done without much more than complaints this time, of course she's done it 7 times now.

Fast forward three weeks....Eggs, Bacon, Phone rings and 'They are down again.'

part 2 will be in TFTS, since it more tech supporty, this is just story stuff

Submitted October 08, 2014 at 01:02AM by GonzoMojo http://ift.tt/1oO0SBS GonzoMojo