1 Name of student:

Failure of I.T Software Systems in Relation to Organizational Catastrophes

Institution:

Instructors name:

Date due:

2 Failure of I.T Software Systems in Relation to Organizational Catastrophes

Some of the Information Technology (I.T) mishaps by organizations may never be recognized by the public because I.T technicians are well-able to deal with them by their own. Such may include the breakages of back-up systems and projects extending over the board of budgeted limits. However, some I.T catastrophes may also be too small or huge, yet still gets to be realized by the public since it may affect some clients or stakeholders. The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) based in the United Kingdom (U.K) contributes a lot to the countrys economy in terms of balanced sheet. The systems problem arose when the companys faulty software upgrade hindered their computer systems from developing payments for both business clients and individuals. The faulty upgrade affected system operations for big organizations such as Ulster Bank of Ireland and British Bank of Nat West. The problem was described as malfunction of the operating system that conducts money transfer between accounts over the nights. This software problem was too extreme to an extent that despite payments having been made to staff, it still could not give reflection in to their personal accounts. This also meant that aspects like tenants payment of rent to their landlords via bank accounts could not happen since transactions failed to reflect. The huge traffic jam created in the main computer system blocked the banks customer accounts from updating any transaction carried out. The source of the problem is attributed to the fact that majority of RBS operational tasks are outsourced, therefore difficult for them to manage some

3 technical hitches that can possibly occur. The BBC in its world news business reported that RBS misfortune has greatly affected customers such that they would have to give an immediate and detailed explanation to its clients all over media or else risk losing its customers and partnerships to other I.T business organizations. This is because despite the companys spending of three days duration to fix up the problem, customers negative dramatic effect went on for a whole week, some even complaining to having not received cash balances in their accounts yet. Organizations are responsible for their own mishaps and calamities such as the failure to deliver customer expectations and such is the case with RBS Company in the U.K. Despite outsourcing some software systems, the company should have taken the big step of getting acquainted with all means of operating the systems just before outsourcing them. Customers had the right to complain and report the Companys case since it is RBS duty to manage at all costs any possible problems way beforehand. Especially due to the fact that RBS determines the entire U.K economy, the management committee of the organization should always strategize ways of providing I.T services in a manner that will satisfy clients, partners and stakeholders, and above all enhance its company name and reputation. This article is captivating since it has a catchy headline that creates the urge to know more about the shame behind RBS failure. The author has also used simple and easy to understand words and has provided necessary guiding links in between the article paragraphs. Furthermore, an interesting factor is that, there is public review given through comments posted below the article description. The author has also given links to other networks such as twitter and face book so that different people may get connected, share the discussion of the article and contribute their individual points of view into the companys technical hitch that affected many people.

4 The difference between software and hardware faults is that, software tolerance has the ability to carry on with its performance and still meet its requirement despite the fault while hardware tolerance faults still require some aspect of severance and backup. This can be done through the schedule of automatic back up, restoration of information and some kind of manual backup on normal occurrences. The tolerantfaulty software needs prevention of hardware and operating system failures from interfering with the overall operations through blocked calls. For hardware- tolerant fault, redundancy requires information replication on various computers through continuous back up to lower recovery delay. The software tolerance has to do with the control of computer programmes such as the Microsoft office programmes while hardware tolerance controls the physical applications of the computer, for example the motherboard, power delivering and hard-drive disk controls. The failure of computer programmes is highly contributed by wrong inputs, causing the computer to act in an abnormal manner or producing wrong and unintended outcome. Errors mostly arise from computers original code or due to compilers faults into producing mistaken computer codes. A computer program with a lot of input bugs can critically contribute to lack of its functionality. Apart from taking into consideration system reliability, system safety is more important. This is because a reliable system can as well be unsafe due to fatal that can lead to inevitable consequences. All in all, safety of computer programmes succeeds through constant monitoring of operating systems to discover any faulty state in order to prevent system operations from any possible devastation.

Reference Krigsman (2012), RBS Bank joins the I.T Failures Hall of Shame from http://www.zdnet.com/blog/projectfailures/rbs-bank-joins-the-it-failures-hall-ofshame/15685 . Retrieved on 6th September, 2012