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Conference 7.286::digital

Title:	The Digital way of working

Moderator:	QUARK::LIONELON

Created:	Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5321
Total number of notes:	139771

4582.0. "Downsize, rightsize ... capsize?" by HERON::KAISER () Fri May 03 1996 10:54

A note in my mail this morning: a year ago we had five VMS support persons
at this site supporting a population of about 450.  As of this month, it's
one person, according to the mail.  So the new rules are

	** accounts will be created and files restored only between 13:30
	   and 17:30

	** trouble calls will be accepted only between 8:30 and 12:30, and
	   will be handled on a "best effort" basis

UNIX support will not be affected.  There was none to begin with.

Dum-dee-dum-dee-dum ... when I left the building last Friday evening, there
were two printers in my group's printer room; Monday morning there was only
one.  No idea where the other one went.

Okay, pretty easy to switch my procedures not to use the wrong one
accidentally.  But Monday evening at about 17:30, with plenty of people
still working -- a big change here in the last few years: the number of
people working the kind of late hours only a few of us used to -- someone
queued a long job got onto that one printer that required manual paper
feed.  I searched the building for the person who submitted it, but he had
left for the day.  There was no one in the building with the privilege to
affect the queue.  Got fixed some time the next morning, and until then no
one got any output.

___Pete

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
4582.1		MAIL2::RICCIARDI	Be a graceful Parvenu...	`Fri May 03 1996 11:37`	3
	welcome to my nightmare it gets more interesting too...
4582.2	Upsizing	HERON::KAISER		`Fri May 03 1996 12:34`	4
	Oh, yes; did I forget to mention that the user population here is not shrinking, but growing? ___Pete
4582.3		BHAJEE::JAERVINEN	Ora, the Old Rural Amateur	`Fri May 03 1996 12:54`	6
	Well I've got a printer room just across the corridor, about 5 meters from my desk, with 6 or 7 printers. I still feel lucky if I ever get anything printed... the probability of this happening is inversely proportional to the time pressure to get stuff printed.
4582.4	Murphy's: laws or ales ?	BBPBV1::WALLACE	Plan, Implement, Check, Act.	`Fri May 03 1996 18:11`	5
	That's always been the case (must be something to do with toner, 'cos the same problem affects photocopiers too). regards john
4582.5	what me need printer?	INDYX::ram	Ram Rao, SPARCosaurus hunter	`Fri May 03 1996 19:53`	4
	We have one high-volume printer (LPS-20) at our site. Recently, there was a period of 6 months when it was disconnected from the network, because none of the 6 cost-centers represented at our site wanted to foot the $30/month network connect fee that GPS demands!
4582.6	would this help??	SCCAT::SHERRILL		`Sat May 04 1996 02:30`	4
	Maybe people in those cost centers could pass the hat and collect the $30. If everyone donated 50 cents a month you would collect enough to fund the printer, problem solved.
4582.7		LEXSS1::GINGER	Ron Ginger	`Sun May 05 1996 13:52`	9
	I have no problem with broken printers. I have NO printers. No access to any way to print paper from DEC. no postscript. I can read mail, as long as I dont need to use function keys, on a dumb terminal. And since we have no lit rooms any more, I cant even get printed material for my customers. Supporting customers like this is a big pain.
4582.8	... Currently reading Scott Adams' book ...	CTPCSA::CIUFFINI	God must be a Gemini...	`Sun May 05 1996 16:46`	13
	paper? you guys have paper!? We went back to impact printers ( 24 pin if you might be counting ) and since we have no paper, simply read the printer roll. We even schedule each on eof our jobs in serial order so as not to overwrite the other's output. Often someone is reading and we intercept the boss and tell him "Don't interrupt ( person's_name ), he's on a roll. jc
4582.9		CSC32::PITT		`Mon May 06 1996 12:22`	11
	a few years back when we were supporting work stations and all we had was vt200s, we had a "MilkShakes for Work Stations" sale.... we didn't make enough money to buy a work station, but we sure managed to piss off mgt... ;-) This all reminds me of writing your family budget and deciding that you can only afford 2 kids instead of the 3 you have... which one do you get rid of....the one who takes out the garbage or the one who does the dishes.....??
4582.10	easy...	CSC32::C_BENNETT		`Mon May 06 1996 12:30`	5
	.9 which one do you get rid of....the one who takes out the garbage or .9 the one who does the dishes.....?? Both - taking out garbage and doing dishes are not revenue generating activities. Outsource the garbage removal and dishwashing activities.
4582.11	No lit rooms	NWD002::BAYLEY::Randall_do		`Mon May 06 1996 12:59`	11
	re: .7 > And since we have no lit rooms any more, I cant even get printed > material for my customers. I'm glad to read your note. I thought that ours was the only facility where rooms weren't lit anymore. I'm told that lights are a major cost item, and that by outsourcing lighting, Digital makes a significant contribution to savings. Especially during Daylight Savings time, there's plenty of light just outside of our offices.
4582.12	Lit Rooms Can Be Dangerous	NCMAIL::YANUSC		`Tue May 07 1996 12:56`	11
	re: .7 and .11 I also am glad to see that there are no longer any lit room at Digital. Lit rooms, depending on how large the conflagration, can be an exceedingly large fire hazard for all individuals in the building. Why I can remember when we had someone throw a lit cigarette into a wastecan once - you should of seen the mess. What's that? Oh, you mean literature rooms! Never mind. Chuck
4582.13	heaping coals on the fire...	R2ME2::DEVRIES	Mark DeVries	`Fri May 10 1996 13:45`	19
	re: .0 > a year ago we had five VMS support persons > at this site supporting a population of about 450. As of this month, it's > one person, according to the mail... > > UNIX support will not be affected. There was none to begin with. Sounds like they still have some downsizing to go to achieve parity. :-) re: .7 > I have NO printers. No access to any way to print paper from DEC. So ... the paperless office has finally arrived! :-) -Mark
4582.14	literature	DECLNE::TOWLE		`Wed Jun 19 1996 12:04`	4
	I think that reply .7 was saying "lit" as in Literature, not as in lights. -VT