Friday 25 March 2011

The Bleeding Edge!

The Bleeding Edge!

Computing.co.uk reports that HMRC's Head of IT Security Architecture, Chris Franklin, has ruled out investing in "bleeding-edge" technology (even if it could provide enhanced security).

Quote:

"The trouble with bleeding-edge solutions is they tend to need patches and tweaks.

We have 50,000 users every day, so we can't afford service disruptions. We need mature and resilient services.
"

Franklin added:

"Any new products and capabilities we implement must be non-intrusive.

Even the smallest change to our online service is a big deal.

Our availability requirements mean that any interruption impacts a large number of customers.
"

He is absolutely correct, it is better that IT solutions are thoroughly proven to work before they are implemented, and I fully agree that HMRC can't afford service disruptions.

Hang on a minute, what did I write the other day??...ROFLOL!!!!

Tax does have to be taxing.

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12 comments:

  1. Smarty Pants Chris, what a guy.

    You would have thought IT Security, HMRC Software etc would have been nailed before Customs and The Revenue, (both with different software and IT systems)
    were merged in 2005.

    Six years later and you get quotes like

    "We need mature and resilient services."

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  2. If you want to see what is going wrong with IT security look no further than the US Department of Homeland Security daily open source news web look at Wednesday 23rd March, entry 39, RSA security breach compromised federal network ID tool.
    What's the priority for the private sector - profit, security is a lesser concern, after all it's not their data at risk.
    Mature and resilient - my ar@e!
    HMRC would lose your winning lottery ticket and state it was evidence of good customer engagement.
    The whole mess from Straithie down is imploding but the script is from The Emperors New Clothes with help from a bunch of useless munchkins still pushing Pacesetter.
    Is there anyone out there that will change this before any more taxpayers money is wasted?

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  3. Dare I ask but.... what is Pacesetter?

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  4. I've asked this before (got no reply) but why do you contiue to have a piture of Gordon Brown? The Condems have been in power for ten months.

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  5. HMRC systems: not bleeding edge - just bleedin' useless!

    ReplyDelete
  6. 25 March 2011 21:37


    It doesnt matter.

    Brown and others set the merger up.

    Thats why his face is still there.

    ReplyDelete
  7. 25 March 2011 21:37


    It doesnt matter.

    Brown and others set the merger up.

    Thats why his face is still there.

    ReplyDelete
  8. re 25th 21:22 WTF is PACESETTER?
    It is the idol upon which the management muppets of hmrc have hung their souls....
    Almost Stalinist and certainly evangelical in it's zeal this Japanese manufacturing based (Toyota & Lean) brainwashing edict that is used to coerce the downtrodden workforce that remains picking at the skeleton of crapola that is your tax system.
    Look it up someetime and find it is that crazy it has pages devoted to explaining its sometimes japanese wording, I kid you not.
    At the moment the only thing missing for hmrc employees is the compulsory exercise and company song in the car park every morning before work, give it time!
    Now, unless you are an hmrc manager and/or member of Excom (whatever that is) you will have begun to ask WTF does hmrc have to do with manufacturing? All that hmrc manufactures are lies, big bonuses for the "deserving" snd a load of crap for the workforce and "customers". Pacesetter is so effective it took hmrc to 103rd out of 103 (sorry, I meant last). Some wonderous sites have hourly meetings and statistics and spreadsheets rule. hmrc is even maaking its staff (not its managers!) show out of office messages at the end of the day! WTF? Next you will have to show ooo messages when you go to the loo or rush to make a cup of coffee.
    So you the taxpayer pay for all this enhanced methodology and improved customer experience....
    I trust this answers your question, if not ask KF direct.

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  9. I have asked this before but never get a reply. Why do you still have an image of Gordon Brown. Should not it be George Osborne?

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  10. 26 March 2011 19:22

    Thank you for your answer. I get the gist of it now. Although your comment is amusing to read, I see the serious side to it.

    So Pacesetter is effectively micro-management instructed at the behest of various egos in positions of authority who are merely exercising their power over the little people - and at the taxpayers expense so there is no pressure on them.

    In the longer term, this wont work. An unhappy workforce results in poor service and pissed off customers. Oh wait - that's already happened.

    Even though my experience with HMRC is never ever a good one, I do hope that the staff get justice and these tyrants at the top are removed and a shift in policies towards taxpayers becomes more fair.

    ReplyDelete
  11. What is pacesetter (or pacesh*tter as it is amusingly called).

    The intention is pure.... The staff who know how to do the work actually find ways to cut out the waste, speed it up etc etc with the quote "after all, they're the ones doing the job..."and believe it or not when left to get on with it, it mostly works......

    however rumour is, that HMRC management and pacesh*tter practitioners have managed to turn what was a fundamentally good system into the load of old b*ll*cks that it is now, with the further rumour that the owners of the system are now threatening to sue, becuse HMRC have screde it up that badly that no sane business will ever touch it.......Isn't life grand?

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  12. http://pcseuston.org.uk/2009/08/01/and-the-lord-lean-did-create-pacesetter-practitioners/

    ReplyDelete