Air Canada experiences computer glitch—How businesses can avoid tech mistakes

By qqtqtqt etqt

May 19, 2020

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Planning to travel anytime soon? Air Canada recently ran into some trouble that the company has since referred to as a “computer glitch.”

Just last week, the airline offered an unbelievable online deal that is now being declined. Specifically, business-class flight passes for the western U.S. and Canada were offered at an extremely low rate.

One person in particular saw the opportunity on Facebook and later purchased $8,000 or more worth of passes for just $837.

Adarsh Pallian said, “I got 10 tickets for about one-tenth of the price . . . of the full price.”

However, Air Canada has since cancelled the tickets and is contacting other buyers to apologize and refund the passes, claiming the bargain price on these tickets was, as mentioned, a computer glitch.

We live in an era where technology is king; companies everywhere—big and small—are constantly relying on technology for various aspects of their businesses. And it should come as no surprise that a variety of glitches and problems can and often do arise.

Therefore, we’ve put together some tips that can (hopefully) help business avoid tech mistakes. Take a look!

Do you have the right support?

First things first, you need to make sure you have the right technical support for your system. Many businesses try to save money by going without a technical support team, and just simply rely on an employee or relative to handle issues.

However, in the long run, this method is not cost-effective. If you’re running a professional company, then you need to have a knowledgeable and trusted tech support group who is proficient and capable of learning your particular system. As glitches can happen randomly and at inconvenient times, your IT assistant needs to have an open and available schedule.

Do you know how to overcome hardware and software issues?

Sounds complex, right? For example, did you know that older hardware is less efficient and can result in lost business opportunities? Follow these simple guidelines:

Always retire equipment at proper lifecycles
Standardize hardware components
Standardize software applications
Build a relationship with IT consultants to reduce and negotiate prices

Do you have the proper power protection?

It’s important to know that a single power outage, surge and/or spike can severely damage all electronic components, resulting in the loss of data and critical information. Furthermore, these surges can shorten the lifespan of computers and other pieces of equipment.

Therefore, consider deploying quality battery backup devices for all critical pieces of equipment. Servers should also be connected to uninterruptible power suppliers and regularly tested to confirm adequate protection is in place.

Do you have the adequate training?

For your team, software training is very important. Insufficient training ranks as one of the most common tech mistakes that currently impacting all businesses.

In fact, it’s estimated that employees understand less than 20 per cent of the available features in the software application they use (i.e. 80 per cent of features that could assist with saving time and money remain unused).

Therefore, as the head of the company, it’s imperative to identify technology partners, training centers and other programs that can assist your staff in maximizing all software applications.

Do you know if you have the good security measures?

It doesn’t matter how big or small your business is, you must not fail to accommodate security issues. Consider these steps:

Enforce strong password security policies for all servers, networks, applications, etc.
Regularly update all operating systems
Secure all wireless networks
Disable guest accounts
Prohibit file-sharing programs

Some technology glitches are unavoidable. However, if you’re prepared for mistakes and issues, then you’ll find yourself saving time, money and resources.

[SOURCE: CBC News and Tech Republic ]

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