IBM issues statement re Air NZ outage

LATEST NEWS

Computerworld is New Zealand's only specialised information systems fortnightly.
Subscribe now for $100 (23 issues) and save more than 37% off the cover price!

Get the latest news from Computerworld delivered via email.
Sign up now

Cause of power outage at datacentre not fully determined, but failed oil pressure sensor a likely cause

By Computerworld staff | Auckland | Tuesday, 13 October, 2009

IBM has responded to a request by Computerworld for comment on Sunday’s outage at Air New Zealand, which affected check-in, booking and call centre systems and prompted criticism from Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe and short haul airlines group general manager Bruce Parton.

IBM’s statement, released to Computerworld yesterday afternoon, notes:
“The cause of [Sunday’s]power outage at the Newton Data Centre has not been fully determined. IBM's primary focus was to rapidly restore services to our clients, and in particular to Air New Zealand. IBM immediately engaged a team of 32 local IT professionals supported by global colleagues and management to restore impacted client systems. Services to most clients were restored within an hour of the outage.

“We have already engaged an independent expert to conduct a thorough investigation into the cause of the outage, however the likely cause appears to have been a failed oil pressure sensor on a backup generator. We regret any inconvenience caused to our clients or their customers.”