March 8, 2007 1:33 PM PST
Daylight saving change proves thorny for businesses
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With many large companies still struggling to patch their computer systems, a backlog has emerged for customers trying to get help. In some cases, IT workers have been waiting three or four hours to get telephone support from Microsoft, whose Exchange Server serves as the official calendar for many of the world's largest businesses.
Aiming to shorten that wait, Microsoft has boosted the number of people addressing the time change issue. Earlier Thursday, the company opened up a "situation room" devoted to monitoring customer issues and providing support to the software maker's largest customers. The main situation room will be in Redmond, Wash., with centers in Texas, North Carolina and India overseeing things in the off-hours. Microsoft has also added more than 200 workers versed in Exchange and Outlook to its phone lines.
"The teams are working hard," said Rich Kaplan, the Microsoft vice president in charge of handling issues related to the early arrival of daylight saving time. "Everyone is going to be here through the weekend."
Thanks to a federal law aimed at reducing energy costs, daylight saving time starts three weeks earlier and runs one week later in the fall. However, without an update, many computers and digital gadgets can't automatically adjust to the new time, potentially wreaking havoc on corporate scheduling for the next three weeks.
The issue harks back to Y2K, when there were years of fretting over the fact that many computer programs were designed to enter years in only two digits, meaning that the 2000 might be mistaken for 1900. In the end, years of planning meant that there were no major crises and far fewer headaches than had been predicted.
With the daylight saving issue, the potential impact is seen as less, but there has also been far less preparation than there was for Y2K.
"The Y2K thing had tons of press," said Kaplan, who also managed Microsoft's efforts on that changeover. "Even if you didn't read the paper or go online or watch the news, you knew about Y2K because people talked about it."
And though the law mandating the change was signed in mid-2005, many of the necessary patches have been available only in recent weeks or months. With Windows, Microsoft was ready with patches last year, but waited until November, after the fall time change, to make them publicly available. But it only recently released automated tools for businesses to manage time change issues in Exchange. And customers have also had a significant number of challenges getting those patches to work, particularly if they are not applied in exactly the recommended order.
"The order that things are patched is important," Kaplan said.
Though both tech companies and corporate tech departments were later to the game than with Y2K, businesses are largely prepared, Kaplan said. Kaplan said that call volumes seemed to peak on Monday and have dropped since, as more companies now see themselves as ready.
"I can tell you, the wait times are unpredictable," Kaplan said, but added that the company has also added an option for large businesses to leave their call-back information and details of their issue and get a return phone call once an engineer is available. Microsoft has also expanded an online chat forum where users can query experts online. Initially running for 12 hours a day, Microsoft made the call to expand that to 15 hours a day.
Machines to save our lives. Machines dehumanize.
- Styx
Machines to save our lives. Machines dehumanize.
- Styx
It most certainly does not save electricity. This isn't the 1940s: and homes and businesses keep their lights and heat on throughout the day, regardless of the time displayed on the clock. It doesn't save lives: studies have shown that it actually costs lives as people's sleep schedules are disrupted for days, causing an increase in traffic accidents. It doesn't help farmers: farmers rise with the sun. It doesn't help children: is it better for them to be going back and forth to school in the dark in the afternoon, when people are wide awake, or in the morning, when people are still groggy from having their sleep disrupted by this foolish Daylight Saving Time? In the middle of winter, it's dark in the morning and in the evening ANYWAY! So what does so-called Daylight Saving Time "save"? NOTHING! It *costs*, and it costs us dearly.
It is time to put an end to this ridiculous ritual. Write, call, AND email your federal and state representatives (DST is a federal scheme, but states can opt out of it), and tell them to STOP PLAYING WITH THE COUNTRY'S CLOCKS!
It most certainly does not save electricity. This isn't the 1940s: and homes and businesses keep their lights and heat on throughout the day, regardless of the time displayed on the clock. It doesn't save lives: studies have shown that it actually costs lives as people's sleep schedules are disrupted for days, causing an increase in traffic accidents. It doesn't help farmers: farmers rise with the sun. It doesn't help children: is it better for them to be going back and forth to school in the dark in the afternoon, when people are wide awake, or in the morning, when people are still groggy from having their sleep disrupted by this foolish Daylight Saving Time? In the middle of winter, it's dark in the morning and in the evening ANYWAY! So what does so-called Daylight Saving Time "save"? NOTHING! It *costs*, and it costs us dearly.
It is time to put an end to this ridiculous ritual. Write, call, AND email your federal and state representatives (DST is a federal scheme, but states can opt out of it), and tell them to STOP PLAYING WITH THE COUNTRY'S CLOCKS!
Or is it just a fiendish plan to see whos smart or stupid twice a year?
On time =pass
Late or early =fail
Or is it just a fiendish plan to see whos smart or stupid twice a year?
On time =pass
Late or early =fail