By Gemma Simpson, 27 October 2006 17:05
NEWS
Update: All of NatWest's 6,500 UK cash machines went offline for several hours on 29 October 2006 from 01:00(GMT) to 06:00(GMT) as a result of the clocks going back one hour.
A spokeswoman from NatWest told silicon.com: "It is necessary to set aside adequate time to shut down the system, update the system and servers, check it and then take it 'live' again."
The spokeswoman said NatWest does this every six months when the clocks change in the UK as the system is not able to make the changes automatically.
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The spokeswoman added the downtime "includes contingency time for any unforeseen delays" but it probably will not take the full five hours to make the changes.
This story is an updated version of the original piece which went live on Friday 27 October. It was changed on Monday 30 October to reflect the fact the downtime had by then taken place.
Comments
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1. anonymous
Definitely couldn't have a system that used a standard time for marking transactions with an adjustment value for summertime and location, to be added when printing dockets etc.
(You know the sort of thing that's been on most home and office PC's since windows 3 - and was in most commercial systems I worked on since 1965.)
Then again - the only time I had real contact with Natwest's UK computer systems, I was supplied with a PC that had a USA setup - dollars and mmddyy date etc.