Give a database developer 20 minutes and I bet they'll have figured out a way to automate this if not actually develop the code. Of course, that's reliant upon the data being readily available in a usable format, which I'm assuming not.
COVID-19’s Impacts on BGW
- Thread starter WDWRLD
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Give a database developer 20 minutes and I bet they'll have figured out a way to automate this if not actually develop the code. Of course, that's reliant upon the data being readily available in a usable format, which I'm assuming not.
I'm guessing it's not or some of the data is so old they can't convert it somehow.
20 minutes? Psh... I could probably just write a query to update the end date in 2 minutes. 20 minutes is for interns/hacks.
All depending on how the data is laid out - I was thinking of a DateAdd function embedded in a Case statement may work though that's assuming you don't have to go creating an ass-backwards join key to get different tables together... Or there are no unique references to work with.
The fact BGW does not have a clear cut and easy to use system in place for this shows their terribly aging technology as well as not caring to help they members. They likely don't care to update their systems so that they can be more powerful tools that are easy to use and actually work. They also would rather individual members call in so that they can still grab the monthly fees of those who don't call in.
But their shopping cart still works great on their site, you can still buy passes right now and immediately pay for nothing, today! Don't delay non-passholders, plenty still left. I guess they have laid off the technology staff for now, but still... ?
Apparently SeaWorld will be okay until the end of 2021. Maybe this bodes well for BGW?
These kinds of issues usually happen because the CIO isn‘t very good and the CEO and COO aren’t able to properly evaluate IT because all they see is the front end websites and some report tools. A good CIO is constantly looking for ways to improve their system’s functionality and get positive ROI from automation and user self service.
Could be a lack of will to invest in a better platform, or upgrade the existing. Maybe they see it as 'the version we have works just fine, why should we shell out the money to have an overhaul?'
That what I think. And I think it isn't built in there or able to really do it because I don't think they ever foresaw the necessity for a function like that.
I'd also guess that they're probably paying the vendor to manage the data and show them the reporting; reduces overhead on having the specialized staff and tools needed.
Downside is the client is reliant on the vendor to scope out any changes including possibly coming up with solutions instead of the client being in control. There could also be a huge cost associated to make changes if they're even possible.
Downside is the client is reliant on the vendor to scope out any changes including possibly coming up with solutions instead of the client being in control. There could also be a huge cost associated to make changes if they're even possible.
If SEAS is outsourcing their IT at their company size, that's probably half the issue. It's one thing to outsource IT if you're a local water park, it's another thing when you're competing with the Disney/Universal's of the world. Considering the dwindling costs of spinning up IT services through an AWS or Azure, it would make little sense to outsource development and application maintenance when you can make those changes with internal staff for very little.
For a multi-park operation, how many qualified data personnel (scientists, engineers, analysts, etc) would they need, what sort of tools (SSMS, SSIS, something else) do they need licenses for, and would they also need licenses and software for visualization tools such as Tableau or Power BI?
My thought personally is it's totally worth doing, but landing decent talent in those roles and retaining them may be more than they want to spend if they were able to get what they felt was a reasonable deal from their vendors.
That may also explain why there was confusion on overspending marketing budgets last year. A good data/analysis team would have made it readily known long before it was millions in the hole.
Also, since this crisis was something that caught everyone blindsided, it's not like they likely gave it much thought before if things were working as they expected.
My thought personally is it's totally worth doing, but landing decent talent in those roles and retaining them may be more than they want to spend if they were able to get what they felt was a reasonable deal from their vendors.
That may also explain why there was confusion on overspending marketing budgets last year. A good data/analysis team would have made it readily known long before it was millions in the hole.
Also, since this crisis was something that caught everyone blindsided, it's not like they likely gave it much thought before if things were working as they expected.
Except they aren't competing with the Disney/Universal's of the world. Size wise they are behind SF/CF. They are very likely outsourcing it. The company I work for is roughly (staffing wise completely) the same size as SEAS (shockingly) and aside from intellectual property, we have all our IT outsourced.
Right. For something like this you need qualified coders and database people. Those cost money. Average qualified database person and associated coders would scoff at an offer less than 120-130k. Perhaps more depending on how qualified.
In my experience so far, lots of companies choose to outsource what they consider not a core business focus.
If you're an amusement park company, you're more focused on attract/satisfy/retain in addition to the P&L statement than you are on managing data infrastructure (regardless if it's in the cloud or not).
Why spend all the time, money, and effort on finding the right people, then ramp up their capacities to meet your needs when there's plenty of vendors you can contract with more or less turnkey solutions for the same?
If you're an amusement park company, you're more focused on attract/satisfy/retain in addition to the P&L statement than you are on managing data infrastructure (regardless if it's in the cloud or not).
Why spend all the time, money, and effort on finding the right people, then ramp up their capacities to meet your needs when there's plenty of vendors you can contract with more or less turnkey solutions for the same?
I do know of some departments that still handwrite logs and fax interdepartmental info...exactly as they did when the park opened. ?
Here's one that shocks a lot of people:
Despite having an on site "IT Team", most universities outsource a good deal of their programming work.
Example: JSRCC uses Canvas, as does over 1,000 other colleges for online learning. It's more overlay for individual colleges. To develop something like that would be extremely cost prohibitive. But for Canvas, it makes sense to spend the money to then sell colleges the right to use. Colleges save a lot and Canvas makes a crap ton of money on that.
Same thing is likely in place with SEAS. They use a developer for the POS system (that does all of this for them), and that developer likely either charged more for this ability or just didn't have it. At this point it's likely just better for them to go the route of getting people to call in than to pay what it would take to retroactively fix the issue. Not uncommon for businesses to take that POV.
At least some of this has to do with risk mitigation.
If the college uses a company for online learning and a hacker exploits the system and gets the personal data of students the college isn't the one liable for the damages.