Friday, 13 May, began with an unpleasant surprise for all users of Google’s Blogger service: it was impossible to update their websites with the latest information, and the most recent data had been lost. Some websites hosted on Blogger could not be opened at all.
Blogger’s Twitter account stated that routine maintenance had been scheduled for the night of 12 to 13 May, so customers had been warned that the service would operate in read-only mode. Before long, however, Blogger admitted that something had gone wrong and asked users to be patient, as active work was under way to restore the service. It was later announced that copies of websites as of 7:37am local time on 11 May were available in read-only mode, while information posted later and readers’ comments were currently unavailable.
Blogger is not the only free service actively used not only by private individuals but also by Latvian companies and organisations. “I understand the wish to save money on hosting a website in data centres, but this example also highlights another problem – how secure and business-friendly these free services are. Users we know say that they only found out about the trouble after a long search on the internet, whereas every customer of a paid server would have been warned in good time both about possible interruptions and about the current problems and solutions. Moreover, with a paid service the customer can call or e-mail to find out what is happening and resolve the problem, whereas with free services it is impossible to find even a phone number or an e-mail address,” says Andris Gailītis, Chairman of the Board of DEAC.
As one of the specific features of paid services, Andris Gailītis points to the availability of technical support by phone or electronically around the clock. “As long as a customer has no problems, he doesn’t think about it, but when problems arise, the nervousness begins about whom to call and how, and whom to complain to,” says Andris Gailītis.
“We always stress that data should be stored as close as possible. It is only natural that technical work is carried out at night. But when it is night in the USA, it is the busiest working time here, so it is not uncommon for data, including e-mails and internet files, to be unavailable because improvements are being made on US servers at that moment,” believes Andris Gailītis.
Jevgēņijs Kuzņecovs, Member of the Board of the national e-service “Inbox.lv”, also recommends choosing service providers whose support service is available by e-mail or, even better, just a phone call away.
It is also important that the service provider is located in the same or a very close time zone. “We also make improvements regularly, as that is the nature of IT companies. And we usually do this work at night, from 02 to 03, when traffic is lowest. The same is done in the USA, but the problem is that this coincides with the time of peak traffic in Latvia, which means that at this time access to e-mail or one’s files is needed most, and customers are outraged even by a 30-minute wait,” continues Jevģēnijs Kuzņecovs.
“This case also proves that those who believe and argue that global service providers are much more secure than Latvian companies are wrong. Errors and problems can happen both to a small server and to a company like Google,” points out Jevgēņijs Kuzņecovs.
Both Andris Gailītis and Jevgēņijs Kuzņecovs agree that the closer the service provider is, the easier it will be to obtain information and, if necessary, to solve problems. The language issue is also very important: even if the customer has the service provider’s e-mail address, he may not always have sufficient language skills to describe his problem in a letter and to understand what the service provider has written back.
