Microsoft's Danger Data Service disrupts users for over a week and now warns of loss of contact and calendar information -- unbelievable screw-up

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Bob Frankston <bob2-39 () bobf frankston com>
> Date: October 11, 2009 11:34:21 EDT
> To: dave () farber net, 'ip' <ip () v2 listbox com>, "'John F. McMullen'" <johnmac13 () gmail com 
> >
> Cc: 'Lauren Weinstein' <lauren () vortex com>
> Subject: RE: [IP] Microsoft's Danger Data Service disrupts users for  
> over a week and  now warns of loss of contact and calendar  
> information -- unbelievable  screw-up

> I’d steer clear of the corporate offices for fear of rolling heads.  
> What is a “service disruption”? It’s especially embarrassing  
> that happened with Microsoft but I presume this is a very common pro 
> blem as one delegates to “the cloud”. It’s like buying a leased  
> line from a phone company and presuming it will “just work”  
> without having a plan B.
>
>
>
> For those buying cloud services – how many them have backup as an ex 
> plicit part of the offering? The emphasis tends to be on the active  
> operation and low costs. Backup can be tricky when we have an active 
>  service with live information. And if this is about cost then who w 
> ould want to spend money on “frills”. In a large project I can  
> easily see “backup” falling through the cracks – it’s not  
> something you think of before you’ve been burnt. After all,  
> you’ve outsourced that IT stuff.
>
>
>
> Has there been any research on the degree of this kind of exposure?  
> The exposure only increases if the service are reliable and failures  
> are the exception – that assures there is no learning.
>
>
>
> Saying there was no problem prior to the acquisition plays into just  
> this kind of naïve assumption that if nothing has gone wrong then th 
> ere was no systemic problem. Before I propose sidekick-specific fixe 
> s I’d like to know more about what happened.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net]
> Sent: Sunday, October 11, 2009 10:48
> To: ip
> Subject: [IP] Microsoft's Danger Data Service disrupts users for  
> over a week and now warns of loss of contact and calendar  
> information -- unbelievable screw-up
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
>
>
> From: "John F. McMullen" <johnmac13 () gmail com>
>
> Date: October 11, 2009 8:33:14 AM EDT
>
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>, "John F. McMullen" <johnmacsgroup () yahoogroups com 
> >, Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>, Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com 
> >
>
> Cc: Commonweal Mailing List <commonweal () yahoogroups com>
>
> Subject: Microsoft's Danger Data Service disrupts users for over a  
> week and now warns of loss of contact and calendar information --  
> unbelievable screw-up
>
>
> From my blog:
>
>
>
> T-Mobile's Sidekick Smart Phone Service, powered by Microsoft's  
> Danger Data Service has been out of commission for over a week and  
> now the users are warned that their data, stored on Danger's  
> Servers, may have been lost and that the data that remains on their  
> Sidekick devices is at jeopardy, putting customers contact and  
> calendar information at risk to disappear.
>
> Some johnmac comments:
> 1. There was never a problem like this prior to the Microsoft  
> acquisition of Danger.
> 2. There has been little media coverage of this problem although I  
> suspect that multi-thousands of users are affected.
> 3. It would seem that, given all of its technical expertise,  
> Microsoft could come up with some way to replicate the original  
> Danger SideKick to Danger backup. Failing that, it should be able to  
> provide a USB backup to Outlook.
> 4. Perhaps Google can jump in witha Sidekick to G-Mail, G-Calendar,  
> etc. If so, game over and a lot of Androids get sold.
>
> -----------------------
> The latest missive:
>
> Sidekick customers, during this service disruption, please DO NOT  
> remove your battery, reset your Sidekick, or allow it to lose power.
> Updated: 10/10/2009 12:35 PM PDT
> T-MOBILE AND MICROSOFT/DANGER STATUS UPDATE ON SIDEKICK DATA  
> DISRUPTION
> Dear valued T-Mobile Sidekick customers:
> T-Mobile and the Sidekick data services provider, Danger, a  
> subsidiary of Microsoft, are reaching out to express our apologies  
> regarding the recent Sidekick data service disruption.
> We appreciate your patience as Microsoft/Danger continues to work on  
> maintaining platform stability, and restoring all services for our  
> Sidekick customers.
> Regrettably, based on Microsoft/Danger's latest recovery assessment  
> of their systems, we must now inform you that personal information  
> stored on your device - such as contacts, calendar entries, to-do  
> lists or photos - that is no longer on your Sidekick almost  
> certainly has been lost as a result of a server failure at Microsoft/ 
> Danger. That said, our teams continue to work around-the-clock in  
> hopes of discovering some way to recover this information. However,  
> the likelihood of a successful outcome is extremely low. As such, we  
> wanted to share this news with you and offer some tips and  
> suggestions to help you rebuild your personal content. You can find  
> these tips in our Sidekick Contacts FAQ. We encourage you to visit  
> the Forums on a regular basis to access the latest updates as well  
> as FAQs regarding this service disruption.
> In addition, we plan to communicate with you on Monday (Oct. 12) the  
> status of the remaining issues caused by the service disruption,  
> including the data recovery efforts and the Download Catalog  
> restoration which we are continuing to resolve. We also will  
> communicate any additional tips or suggestions that may help in  
> restoring your content.
> We recognize the magnitude of this inconvenience. Our primary  
> efforts have been focused on restoring our customers' personal  
> content. We also are considering additional measures for those of  
> you who have lost your content to help reinforce how valuable you  
> are as a T-Mobile customer.
> We continue to advise customers to NOT reset their device by  
> removing the battery or letting their battery drain completely, as  
> any personal content that currently resides on your device will be  
> lost.
> Once again, T-Mobile and Microsoft/Danger regret any and all  
> inconvenience this matter has caused.
> Service Disruption FAQs| Disruption Credit FAQs| Disruption Discussion
> Password/Sign-in Text Message FAQs | Password/Sign-in Discussion
>
>
>
>
> --
> "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." --  
> Daniel Patrick Moynihan
> "When you come to the fork in the road, take it" -- L.P. Berra
> "Always make new mistakes" - Esther Dyson
> "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable
> from magic"
>    -- Sir Arthur C. Clarke
> "You Gotta Believe" - Frank "Tug" McGraw (1944 - 2004 RIP)
>
>                    John F. McMullen
> Editor - Web2.0 The Magazine -- www.web2themag.com
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>  -- and search for "Cashing A Check"  (6x9 softcover & kindle version)
> Senior Member, ACM
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