Question Whats going on with the UK banks?

rynnor

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Yesterday HSBC's system was down - no ATM's working etc. Today RBSG is out including internet banking - pure coincidence?
 

old.user4556

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Without going into too much detail, the UK banks are investing massively into offshore IT support to cut costs. They'd rather risk the occasional outage with shite IT staff than spend a fortune investing in good, onshore experts.

I have to add; Indian offshore partners are fucking terrible. Sure, ask them to write some Java code, or SQL statements and they can do it. However, ask them to think outside the box for just one second and they can't do it. Ask them to take some ownership and drive forward issues with urgency and they can't do it. Ask them to go away and work on their own to deliver, and they can't do it.

I spend most of my time mopping up shite that the Indian partners leave behind. Botched server failovers, dodgy code, bad communication - the list is endless.
 

Raven

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If it isn't on their little script cards they are lost.
 

Wij

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If you need an onshore contractor instead then gimme a call :)
 

old.user4556

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"not on the approved supplier list"

i.e. not Indian :(
 

Wij

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Trust me. My former overlords are hiring onshore contractors :)
 

old.user4556

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Oh yes it's going on everywhere, I sit beside onshore EAD contractors just now; but it's not happening where I am.
 

Raven

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I was reading that quite a few companies are bringing their operations back on shore due to the utter uselessness of offshore staff and the fact that as predicted, they want proper wages.
 

Roo Stercogburn

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There's also the shite known as 'best shore' i.e. find the cheapest godforsaken area in a country and relocate the IT services there.
 

old.user4556

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I was reading that quite a few companies are bringing their operations back on shore due to the utter uselessness of offshore staff and the fact that as predicted, they want proper wages.

I know that Sky are currently recruiting for IT guys after a reversal of their offshoring strategy.

You're also correct about the wages, they get paid £3000 a year over in India, but if they get put into another country they get proper wages (which is what they want) and are reluctant to go back to India. However, that doesn't work for the company because it costs the same to run as a permanent colleague (minus pension / bonus) so the appetite is there to send them all back. However, they refuse and threaten to quit and switch to a competitor if they do so. Since the knowledge is locked up in their head, then said company bends over for them.

Shocking.
 

Jeros

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Buggernuts, Just when I have money to think about maybe putting in some kind of investment or bond. I hate to think of something fucking up and getting problems with that :/
 

Tuthmes

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You should buy in a bear market. So now would be the time!
 

Rulke

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Yesterday HSBC's system was down - no ATM's working etc. Today RBSG is out including internet banking - pure coincidence?

I work in System Operations for RBS - I was supposed to be in on saturday but took it off, they obviously couldn't manage without me!

Was this around 2pm by any chance?
 

Chilly

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You should buy in a bear market. So now would be the time!
If it was that easy why doesnt everyone do it?

The real strategy for the average man in the street is to buy into a ftse-100 tracker for a fixed amount every month. That way you reduce timing errors and highs/lows even out and you end up with the average index growth (which is normally a function of inflation and economic growth) and often a shitload more than your bank will give you.
 

Tuthmes

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The real strategy is to get inside information, without it beeing "illegal".

Also when certain stocks hit somewhere around €2,00 or below and they are renown companies, not beeing able to fall (euhm pun intended) you should buy it asap. It wont go bellow that mark (not much anyway) and if a real crisis brakes out, your money is worth shite anyway.
 

Chilly

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The real strategy is to get inside information, without it beeing "illegal".

Also when certain stocks hit somewhere around €2,00 or below and they are renown companies, not beeing able to fall (euhm pun intended) you should buy it asap. It wont go bellow that mark (not much anyway) and if a real crisis brakes out, your money is worth shite anyway.

I assume you pile on every time this happens with your own money? What makes you think you know more than the market?
 

rynnor

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The real strategy for the average man in the street is to buy into a ftse-100 tracker for a fixed amount every month. That way you reduce timing errors and highs/lows even out and you end up with the average index growth (which is normally a function of inflation and economic growth) and often a shitload more than your bank will give you.

Thats just a form of tame gambling too though - these funds shrink as badly as the rest. I personally think the idea is to not put in more than you can afford to lose and do your own thing - if you lose well it was your gamble rather than sheepishly following some fund.

Personally I'm keeping an eye on various oil stocks - best time to buy these is during a recession when the demand is low and their profits are lower. The real underlying price of oil isnt really going to do anything other than rise in the next 30 years so a good long term holding.
 

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