• El Jay (unregistered)

    1. Data is still stored locally. 2. The fulfillment house can grab the data via secure FTP. 3. The fulfillment house would have someone manually run the file through a utility each week. This person would run it with their fingers crossed, hoping that all payment data was correct. Errm, that's exactly how interbank payments work. You make a text file, ftp it to the national bank, and they process it. Later that day, you get a text file from that FTP site with payments for you.

    We used to manually run a utility twice every day to generate and process these files. And I manually up-/downloaded the files twice a day.

  • anonymous (unregistered) in reply to snoofle
    snoofle:
    Saladin:
    This reminds me of that "fleet of temps" payroll WTF from a few months back.

    With the original proposed solution, there's NO possible chance of error with all of these minimum-wage temps typing everything in manually, right? Brillant!

    I'm just curious what all of the people who submitted their orders online thought when they didn't receive any sort of confirmation, and in some cases heard back six to eight weeks later that their payment information was incorrect. Doesn't that defeat the whole purpose of doing it online as opposed to with mail-in cards?

    P.S. frist

    You are thinking like an educated, forward thinking person who has taken a look at the overall process in the context of common sense.

    The phrases educated, forward thinking and common sense don't generally mix well with IT management (at least not the most of the ones I've generally dealt with).

    I disagree. If you build a system with 4 areas. A-B-C-D and C is a manual one, that result on a non-efective output. Your system can be fixed with only a single change. Move C to automatic, and you instantly have a very good system.

    Is like evolution, birds evolve from dinosaurs.. but slowly, not instantly. So theres some lost dinosaury with wings, that can't fly.

  • Former Fullfilment Programmer (unregistered)

    http://www.cdsfulfillment.com/

  • (cs)

    This reminds me of a meeting I sat in on at a large corporation formerly located in Houston. The VP at the head of the table was talking about having acquired a large company's customer data, and getting it into our system for analysis.

    The traditional way was to use Excel spreadsheets based on a template that did all the analysis. So, the VP was told by the department head: "We've got that all worked out. We'll hire a couple of hundred temps, and put them in the new building on an empty floor. We figure that each one can do about 50 spreadsheets a day, and we've got 250,000 customers to enter." (The new building was across the street, and was still under construction. It was totally unoccupied at the time.)

    I very quietly said, "I've got an automated way of entering them. I'll need a few hours once I get the data to write the code to get it into my system. The software can process about 4,000 customer records an hour, including running the analysis."

    The room went silent for about 30 seconds. The VP said, "Well, I think we're done here. Ken, can you stay behind for a few?" :-)

    I got the data the following Monday afternoon. By start of business on Tuesday, the data was being processed.

    I got a promotion (and a pretty good raise) the next review cycle. :-)

  • (cs) in reply to KenW
    KenW:
    The room went silent for about 30 seconds. The VP said, "Well, I think we're done here. Ken, can you stay behind for a few?" :-)

    I got the data the following Monday afternoon. By start of business on Tuesday, the data was being processed.

    I got a promotion (and a pretty good raise) the next review cycle. :-)

    Wait a minute! You didn't get chewed out by your immediate boss for going over his head? The VP didn't scold you for not bringing this up earlier? This wasn't considered a normal part of "doing your job"? You actually got praised?
    WTF is this company thinking?

    Kudos on using IT for what it was designed for.

  • Geekwad (unregistered) in reply to KattMan
    KattMan:
    Wow, the real WTF is our readership. Just count how many people still think that "Secure FTP" was not mentioned in the article.

    I wish they would clue into the fact that WTF uses a custom captcha database that only contains about ten words. It is not remarkable that your captcha test seems especially appropriate dear users -- THAT'S INTENTIONAL!

  • (cs) in reply to dustin
    dustin:
    I'm not fist I'm second

    When I posted "fist" the one time i was lucky enough, my post got deleted with a note from Alex.

    But anonymous, unregistered "dustin" posts "fist" in the THIRD AND FOURTH POSTS and doesn't get his posts deleted.

    that's the Real WTF(tm)

  • (cs) in reply to dustin
    dustin:
    I'm not fist I'm second

    When I posted "fist" the one time i was lucky enough, my post got deleted with a note from Alex.

    But anonymous, unregistered "dustin" posts "fist" in the SECOND AND THIRD POSTS and doesn't get his posts deleted.

    that's the Real WTF(tm)

    edit: hmm another WTF is that forum posts two messages for every one that you edit.

    ANOTHER wtf is that the non-wtf-jobs post shows expired jobs on the front page.

  • (cs)

    somebody let the suits decide that they had to do it that way

  • Tom (unregistered) in reply to Dave
    Dave:
    Too bad Jim had to use such a crappy approach. I wanted to get my Chicago bunny magazine quickly so that I can stay abreast of important developments.
    Am I the only one who caught this pun?
  • (cs) in reply to Tom

    No. You're the only one who thought their remarkable perceptivity was worth posting about.

  • Stian (unregistered)

    Now I understand why the gift subscription I bought for my sister in early December just recently started arriving at her house..

  • elKodos (unregistered) in reply to KenW
    KenW:
    ... the VP was told by the department head: " ... we've got 250,000 customers to enter." ... I very quietly said, " ... [my] software can process about 4,000 customer records an hour ..."

    So your software would have needed 250k / 4k = ~62 hours runtime.

    KenW:
    I got the data the following Monday afternoon. By start of business on Tuesday, the data was being processed.

    Assuming you got the data at 1:00 pm Monday and delivered results by 9:00 am Tuesday, that gives you about 20 hours to complete a 60+ hour process. The only known way to achieve this is to accelerate your processor to about 95% of the speed of light, giving the required relativistic change factor of 3.

    KenW:
    I got a promotion (and a pretty good raise) the next review cycle. :-)

    I'd have held out for a Nobel, minimum.

  • (cs) in reply to elKodos
    elKodos:
    KenW:
    ... the VP was told by the department head: " ... we've got 250,000 customers to enter." ... I very quietly said, " ... [my] software can process about 4,000 customer records an hour ..."

    So your software would have needed 250k / 4k = ~62 hours runtime.

    KenW:
    I got the data the following Monday afternoon. By start of business on Tuesday, the data was being processed.

    Assuming you got the data at 1:00 pm Monday and delivered results by 9:00 am Tuesday, that gives you about 20 hours to complete a 60+ hour process. The only known way to achieve this is to accelerate your processor to about 95% of the speed of light, giving the required relativistic change factor of 3.

    KenW:
    I got a promotion (and a pretty good raise) the next review cycle. :-)

    I'd have held out for a Nobel, minimum.

    Well, considering he said "The data was being processed", why do we assume he meant it was finished at 9am? For all we know, it had just started, and his statement would still be completely accurate.

  • elKodos (unregistered) in reply to Quinnum
    Quinnum:
    Well, considering he said "The data was being processed", why do we assume he meant it was finished at 9am? For all we know, it had just started, and his statement would still be completely accurate.
    My fault - careless reading.

    It's like my mum said: "You're no Einstein."

  • (cs) in reply to dustin
    dustin:
    I'm not fist I'm second

    fist in your face.

    yeah, btw, mine is longer than yours and all that stuff.

    stop it, children - it isn't cool - just annoying.

  • (cs) in reply to KenW
    KenW:
    This reminds me of a meeting I sat in on at a large corporation formerly located in Houston. The VP at the head of the table was talking about having acquired a large company's customer data, and getting it into our system for analysis.

    The traditional way was to use Excel spreadsheets based on a template that did all the analysis. So, the VP was told by the department head: "We've got that all worked out. We'll hire a couple of hundred temps, and put them in the new building on an empty floor. We figure that each one can do about 50 spreadsheets a day, and we've got 250,000 customers to enter." (The new building was across the street, and was still under construction. It was totally unoccupied at the time.)

    I very quietly said, "I've got an automated way of entering them. I'll need a few hours once I get the data to write the code to get it into my system. The software can process about 4,000 customer records an hour, including running the analysis."

    The room went silent for about 30 seconds. The VP said, "Well, I think we're done here. Ken, can you stay behind for a few?" :-)

    I got the data the following Monday afternoon. By start of business on Tuesday, the data was being processed.

    I got a promotion (and a pretty good raise) the next review cycle. :-)

    What happened to Ken ?

  • (cs) in reply to Franz Kafka
    Franz Kafka:
    What surprises me is that noone has noticed the biggest WTF in this: they hired a fleet of temps to process credit card data - nothing like handing your most sensitive data to some random guy from an agency that makes about $7/hr.

    Franz, you'd be surprised. Maybe even shocked. I can't talk for the other half-dozen credit card companies I haven't worked for, but for at least one of the majors ... well, this is routine. In fact, it's "part of the process." And, if you look at the scale of the problem, it has to be.

    The total WTF here is that it's step number one. Who on earth would design such a lice-ridden system?

    You automate it. You deal with government regs. You update for, oh, I don't know, say 400,000 POS terminals at a time (all using different comms protocols, different authorization protocols, different retail environments), and one out of a hundred thousand transactions goes wrong.

    That adds up over a week or so.

    It adds up to a sizeable amount of money, and a much greater marketing hit.

    This is where you bring the $7/hr temps in, and, let me tell you, I'd rather trust them than the $150K/yr managers. The temps do a great job. There's every chance that the managers will screw up so badly that the charges on your card will go up another 0.5% or so ...

    But, still, you only go to the temps when you need them. I'm just guessing here, but that might be why they're called "temps."

    Oh, and the idiot who confused the concept of settlement via FTP with settlement via SFTP? Don't even get me started on that one.

  • (cs) in reply to elKodos
    elKodos:
    So your software would have needed 250k / 4k = ~62 hours runtime.

    Didn't calculate it myself, but that sounds about right.

    KenW:
    I got the data the following Monday afternoon. By start of business on Tuesday, the data was being processed.
    elKodos:
    Assuming you got the data at 1:00 pm Monday and delivered results by 9:00 am Tuesday, that gives you about 20 hours to complete a 60+ hour process. The only known way to achieve this is to accelerate your processor to about 95% of the speed of light, giving the required relativistic change factor of 3.

    Ummm... Apparently you can't read very well. I didn't say that the data had finished processing. I said it was being processed. There is a difference, you know.

    elKodos:
    I'd have held out for a Nobel, minimum.

    For you, a Nobel prize for reading comprehension?

  • Winnipeg (unregistered)

    A bunch of untrained idiots hitting the ball in the wrong direction is still in the wrong area of the course no matter what. Volume does not make up for proper planning and practice. www.glendalegolfs.com

  • (cs) in reply to Winnipeg
    www.glendalegolfs.com aceemploymentservices.net

    Interesting that both of these spam comments are for sites with the same registar, and they both hail from Winnipeg. It looks like there's some Winnipeg based black hat SEO that's really trying to piss off a bunch of programmers...

    Registrar: SCHLUND+PARTNER AG Whois Server: whois.schlund.info Referral URL: http://registrar.schlund.info

    tech-c-firstname: Oneandone tech-c-lastname: Private Registration tech-c-organization: 1&1 Internet, Inc. - http://1and1.com/contact tech-c-street1: 701 Lee Road, Suite 300 tech-c-street2: ATTN: aceemploymentservices.net tech-c-pcode: 19087 tech-c-state: PA tech-c-city: Chesterbrook tech-c-ccode: US tech-c-phone: +1.8772064254 tech-c-email: [email protected]

  • Brian Boyko (unregistered)

    My first job out of college was doing this.

    I worked for A&P Supermarkets.

    Store Managers would create Excel files with data about all the products they added to the store.

    They then sent those to the main office.

    The main office would have managers keying in the data from the excel files into different excel files for parsing by the data entry team.

    The data entry team (where I worked) would take the excel files from the managers and key them into the Oracle Database.

    The worst part of that job was knowing that I was the lowest paid guy in the company but also that I was smarter than the goddamn CIO.

  • Kell (unregistered) in reply to mrsticks1982
    <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0">

    nuff said

  • Homer (unregistered)

    Sadly, this sort of thing is very common. It seems the larger the company gets, the more often this happens. Imagine getting a file from FTP, parsing the data, putting the data into an Access Database then printing out the data. Then, some poor bastard has to take the print out and key the data into the mainframe. Then imagine getting the data from the mainframe into a different Access Database. Then creating a flat file to send to another system. Then...it just keeps going on like that for several more "processing steps".

  • Pete O'Seale, Internets Lawyer (unregistered) in reply to betaray
    betaray:
    www.glendalegolfs.com aceemploymentservices.net

    Interesting that both of these spam comments are for sites with the same registar, and they both hail from Winnipeg. It looks like there's some Winnipeg based black hat SEO that's really trying to piss off a bunch of programmers...

    Registrar: SCHLUND+PARTNER AG Whois Server: whois.schlund.info Referral URL: http://registrar.schlund.info

    tech-c-firstname: Oneandone tech-c-lastname: Private Registration tech-c-organization: 1&1 Internet, Inc. - http://1and1.com/contact tech-c-street1: 701 Lee Road, Suite 300 tech-c-street2: ATTN: aceemploymentservices.net tech-c-pcode: 19087 tech-c-state: PA tech-c-city: Chesterbrook tech-c-ccode: US tech-c-phone: +1.8772064254 tech-c-email: [email protected]

    You are stupid. Really stupid. I am launching a class action suit against you for all those who have suffered at the hands of your heinous imbecility.

    CAPTCHA: betarayisstupid WOW LOL HOW AMAYUHZIN

    Thanks for the Whois info on 1&1, Domain Name Salespeople. Andreas Gauger will be running scared now. I will be sure to use that with TraceRoute Picture Edition to get pictures of Wattagecat and Einsidler, who are prolly the perps in this terrible crime.

    INTERNETS: SERIOUS BUSINESS

    Pete O'Seale, Internets Law Partners http://www.internets-law-partners.tk

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