On 2007-12-31 17:23:00 +0000, Mark Goodge
said:

On Mon, 31 Dec 2007 16:10:18 +0000, The Natural Philosopher put finger
to keyboard and typed:

I've even done remote computer installations.

No, you haven't. You've done remote software installations, maybe. But
to actually install a computer itself - or fix it when the hardware
goes wrong - you need to be there where the computer is.


No, the whole *computer* was installed remotely. We sent it by courier,
and asked the customer to plug int into the phone, the network, and the
mains.

You didn't install it then. The courier and the customer, between
them, did that. Once they'd installed it, you connected to it and did
a remote installation of the software. Without at least worker
visiting the premises (the courier) and another working on the
premises (the customer), there would have been nothing for you to do.
So, in that example, there was one teleworker and two on-site workers
involved in the process.



This really depends on your definition of "install".

I would take it to mean the work involved in getting a system to the
customer's site, plugged in and connected and brought to an operational
state with the functionality specified.

For one that I was involved in recently, and which is very typical of
carrier, ISP and enterprise work, this involved the following:

- Planning of the electrical and network connections at the data centre
where the equipment was to live.

- Loading of software on equipment

- Shipping of equipment to datacentre.

- The datacentre is a secure lights-out place with access only for a
very restricted number of individuals working for the customer. A
technician at the site unboxed the equipment, physically placed it in
the racks and connected the cables. Total time taken for this part -
one person for half a day.

- This includes backup hardware in case of failures, so maintenance
consists of a unit swap at leisure.

- The configuration and installation work involved people in teams in
five different countries because of the complexity and the distribution
of responsibilities. All of them work in virtual offices at home
and communicate by phone and email. Most of them have never
physically met each other because there is no need.

There were several man weeks of work in this plus the planning stages.

Overall, the proportion of work that involved somebody actually going
anywhere and physically touching anything was less than 0.5%

So, in proportion, TNP is quite right. Gone are the days when there
were armies of people milling around in data centres. Remote access
and the need for tighter security has been the main reason for that.