Tsky Blog
Hey, you! Get off of my cloud!
2010-01-31 (23:17:00)
So they're all at it in government (again) banging on about cloud computing and how it can save the country the shortfall that they've managed to get us all into. How are they doing this? By reducing the number of datacenters that the UK needs and entering into cloud computing to reduce the end-user support and requirements. [Read - We're firing lots of people and giving them crap computers instead].
Parallel this with what they're considering in education and you've got a whole bag of "get me the hell out of here fast" heading out of my lungs. It's not that I don't *like* cloud computing, it's not that I disagree with reducing where there's waste - but let's look at this deep down (and even at my own situation being pushed further and further from the decision-making and day-to-day operation support and strategy) and you see that it's just all a cost-cutting exercise under a pseudonym of "standardisation and efficiency drive". It's amazing to watch as the government pushes for something that big business got rid of because "it just doesn't make cost-effective sense" in the long run. It's not only frustrating for the people that are stuck in limbo wondering what's happening with their jobs now they're getting the cold shoulder and suddenly finding redundancy notices in their pigeon-holes, but it's frustrating for the end-users who suddenly find they no longer can bark at a support unit but are thrown into a heartless automated phone system repeating, ironically, "Ode to Joy" through an 11Khz matrix in such a synthesised and distorted fashion that your spleen wants to erupt and kill you off before you actually reach the "your call is important to us , we are experiencing abnormally high calls right now and we'll get to you as soon as an operator becomes free" nail in the coffin of I.T telephone support.
Dear me, I'm a cynical old geek when I get going, but this is one nerd who won't be pushed, filed, briefed, de-briefed... hang on - that was the Prisoner. Good old McGoohan. (note to self: check out the new series remake)
So another week starts and the epic stupidity continues I guess, fielding a plethora of insane I.T. support requests [Last week's continued on the printer topic in-dispersed with "my computer won't let me log on ... it's being stupid" to find they'd been mis-typing their own password six million times. This is the next generation, the one's who will be in power in the next fifteen years. The one's who will be servicing your car, sorting your electrics out and fitting your gas cooker. Run for your lives!
Normal service will be resumed shortly once the next week or two are over. Until then, it's time for the Jack Nicholson impression with an axe and a manic "Heeeeeeere's I.T.!!!" in a vain attempt at keeping the British stiff upper lip and some form of sanity.