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Ships Turned Away As Aussie Customs' IT System Melts Down
An anonymous reader writes "Urgent shipments of medicine and goods for the holiday season have been turned away by customs officials due to a massive computer problem. The initial budget for the system upgrade was said to be A$80 million but has since blown out to A$250 million. Customs officials and the government have been forced to admit that they might actually have to revert to the old system if things don't improve. One cargo user said on national TV that he used to process 300 orders daily but the new system is so complex and unusable, he's happy if he can manage 100 orders per day. The system failure is expected to have a massive impact especially on the retail sector this Christmas."
Simple solution. Push it back 6 months till when it's actually cold!
Grump.
Is it true that more people vote for the winner of American Idol, than vote for the president? -Ali G.
I hope my shipment of inflatable Love Dolls makes it through customs, otherwise it's going to be a lonely new year.
It'll be interesting to see what the ultimate culprit is. (overpriced IBM/Accenture contractors, Indian outsourcing, Windows, Linux, etc)
But I'm 99% sure it'll have something to do along the lines of:
"Mate, we need a new Customs software system."
"No prob. We'll do it in [whiz bang technoterm du jour]"
"That's it?"
"That's it. [whiz bang technoterm du jour] using [whizbang development process du jour]"
"But what about things like useability? Proof of concept? Customer Support if the design proves unwieldy?"
"Top. Men."
We didn't listen! We didn't listen!!! Oh, God - the humanity!!!
I just can't stand it when they don't post whether it's a windows-based or a unix/linux-based implementation. I need to know whether I can indulge in schadenfreude or whether I have to make excuses.
Yes
EDS == Everything Done Slowly
But in the Aussie case it could be changed to
EDS == Everything Done Shithousely
but if they don't get it sorted out soon it will be more like
250=120=40852
The only things certain in war are Propaganda and Death. You can never be sure which is which though
$20 says there will be in a few days/weeks.
When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
>$20 says there will be in a few days/weeks.
$40 says it'll be duped a few days/weeks after that.
Ah, its using Java. They just have to wait for the VM to start up and things will start running swiftly, in another fortnight or so...
**TODO** Steal someone elses sig.
Dear Project Director,
...I think it's time you opened the third envelope. Good luck in your future endeavors.
Your situation reminds me of the old IT parable that goes something like this...
On his first day on the job a new IT Director has a meeting with the outgoing one. At the end of the meeting the ougoing IT Director hands the new on 3 envelopes and tells him to use them to get out of his first 3 major meltdowns, "just make sure you wait to open them until you need them."
About 3 months later the new IT Director has his first major disaster and remembers the envelopes. Opening the first one he sees, "Blame Me" in big bold letters. Which he does and it works.
Six months after that the second blow up happens and the second letter reads, "Blame the Vendors" which also works.
One year later when everything falls apart the new IT Director opens the third letter full of hope. It reads, "Write 3 Letters."
Sincerely,
The Guy Before You
"Never limit what you know to what you do", Me
Dude, don't feel so bad. I'm an American!
Yeah, that's right. Mod me funny - throw away your points...