In a recent episode of “Who, Me?” from The Register, a reader known as “Holden” shared an experience involving a problematic implementation of a new ERP system. The company had opted for a “managed build” approach with the software provider, which resulted in a project delay of 12 months. Holden described the final product as “quite buggy” and lacking in advanced reporting capabilities.
Approximately six months into using the ERP system, Holden”s boss began expressing increasing distress, repeatedly uttering, “Oh god.” Concerned, Holden observed that his supervisor”s face had turned a troubling shade of puce. It soon became clear that a critical piece of data related to expense transactions had been accidentally deleted, leaving all transactions in a state of suspension and unable to be processed.
In the wake of this crisis, Holden discovered a shadow table that allowed for the reconstruction of the missing data. However, he noted that the team should have learned from this experience. Just two months later, another colleague approached the boss to confess, “I”ve accidentally deleted some relations.” Unfortunately, this individual had deleted all the relationships in the database, including the primary relational table for the general ledger.
This blunder necessitated a company-wide notification declaring, “The ERP is down for emergency maintenance,” followed by an urgent restoration from the previous evening”s backup. Following these incidents, the company implemented strict protocols requiring the use of BEGIN TRANSACTION, ROLLBACK TRANSACTION, and COMMIT TRANSACTION commands to prevent future mishaps.
These stories highlight the importance of careful data management and the potential consequences of user errors in complex systems.
