Spirited News & Observations II -- NGE/Baxter

[Sneezy62]

Great point ... but even when George K started he had an advantage. He was the son of one of the first pharmacists in Winter Haven, which was once a sleepy tiny town. I know George worked as a busboy because ... well, I actually know the man. But a better question is how long he held such a lowly position back when WDW was incredibly selective about any/every one they hire?

An even better question is if anyone who is a busboy at the Contemporary Resort today could ever move up to even be Food and Beverage manager of the resort (let's not even talk about being WDW Prez with a net worth upwards of $10-15 million).

Yeah, I didn't mean to imply that George K. was poor when he started at Contemporary, just that he would have known folks who really appreciated the fact that Disney had hired them. Working at Disney was an opportunity for many to get out of poverty. Yes they were selective and many that were hired didn't last long. Disney did promote from the ranks though, not sure how long that lasted. I'm sure it was a much tighter knit group back then too.

Today, if there really is little opportunity for advancement ( and I don't doubt this is true), it is no wonder quality is suffering. Employees need to know they have value, that they matter. If the Corporation has forgotten that, I don't see a turnaround in the near future. It's a generalized attitude that does speak to the macro economy as well.

 

[flynnibus]

If they're trying to do too much all at once, it's fairly common to use automated tools to do the analysis of the existing data structures. If several of the systems have (for example) a field called 'GuestID' that is an integer between 1 & 16billion something, it's fairly likely that at some point during the implementation, an automated tool interpreted these as equivalent. The integrators usually catch all these and flag them.

Your papers Sir!.. you obviously consider yourself an expert in this area, so obviously you have some skin in the game based on your knowledge. You must disclose your work history so we can make nonsensical connections to this project's implementation. How can we believe your credibility in technology if you do not disclose to the inquisition how you had such 'insider' information. It's obvious that you like technology, so of course you defend it's use! The lead inquisitor must see your papers sir!

 

[thehowiet]

So what are the chances that we can actually put this thread back on the rails and again discuss NGE/MM+, Tony Baxter, and all things TDO related?

I'll at least make an attempt here....

What we know:

• Apparently the MM+ test at DAK did not go very well.
• Guests were able to see the personal information of other guests.

What we don't know:

• How much progress has been made since the DAK test.
• When the next MM+ test will occur.
• Whether or not guests are still able to see personal information of other guests.

I'm also curious to know how this past test has affected the implementation plan, if they are behind schedule with the original roll out plan, and if so, how far behind schedule they are at this point.

 

[wannab@dis]

I was going to stay out of this debate other than to point out the irony since it's impossible to know what happened and to what extent it's an issue. First, I haven't seen specifics on the issue, so anything said is speculation. But, that doesn't seem to stop those that WANT to see this system fail. Why? I'm not sure.

If it's true that profiles belonging to other users are being seen, then it's possible there's an issue in the authentication services. Standard practice is to transmit true authentication information as little as possible. This would include the email address / password combo to sign into the system. Once sent, the normal practice is to use authentication ticket / tokens for future requests within the same session.

This problem may be due to an issue at the token level... with a token not being globally unique within the system. Disney uses a single sign on authentication method for a single account login to access multiple systems. Basically each user interface system takes the authentication data, transmits it for authentication, retrieves a token, and then uses that token to retrieve data from the backend systems. Normally, the token system is a singular module within the n-tier application that receives requests from multiple UI locations -- website, kiosks, mobile site, apps, etc. However, it's possible they created multiple modules for authentication for different UI systems. If so, the token may not be truly unique across all systems. So, a mobile app user gets a token of 123456789 that is connected to user ABC and a website user gets a token of 123456789 for a different user. Basically, the token is unique within the specific UI system, but not within the token cross reference for the backend system. This could explain the profile issue being reported.

As Flynn has already noted, an issue such as this could be introduced from multiple teams writing different parts of the system without access to singular modules usable for multiple teams. If this happened, it was probably due to trying to get the systems created by multiple teams to reduce application development timelines. Again, each team tested their systems without problems, but the unit tests were not built for combined system usage. I'm not downplaying the issue, just speculating on a possible cause. If this speculation is close to accurate, the good news is it's easily (design, not necessarily implementation) fixed by implementing a singular authentication token system shared by the different UI systems.

Finally, for full disclosure, I do not work for anyone remotely connected to NextGen...

 

[Lee]

^ I have no idea what any of that means.
At some point, we're gonna have to get a tech-to-English translator involved in this thread.

All I know is, it ain't workin' right and that's just fine by me.

 

[dupac]

We need a NextGen/MM+ for Dummies thread... the tech talk goes over my head as well.

 

[flynnibus]

^ I have no idea what any of that means.
At some point, we're gonna have to get a tech-to-English translator involved in this thread.

Simple.. broken software - not broken idea.
Why is software broken? Lots of potentials.. but Disney has a poor track record here
Why haven't they fixed it yet? Probably bureaucracy when you outsource so much

I don't know why they are keeping the site online at the time.. it's not like people are doing actual MyMagic+ stuff right now. Let people do everything over the phone for a bit.

Oh wait.. they probably reduced their phone staff already..

 

[ScoutN]

Yes during their cp time they are basically fixed.. But the cp time is finite, and there is no penalty for leaving at the end. Regular cms have minimum time before transfers too, and get frowned upon for leaving and trying to come back

Transfers in CPs nine times out of ten are do it a lack of stellar performance. Just transfering for the sake of it is not as simple as you seem to inply.

 

[flynnibus]

Transfers in CPs nine times out of ten are do it a lack of stellar performance. Just transfering for the sake of it is not as simple as you seem to inply.

I'm not implying transfering at all - I'm talking about the constraints on regular CMs - not CPs.. regular CMs have minimum service before they can transfer AND get frownie points for leaving and trying to rehire.

A CP isn't looked down upon for leaving the company.. because they are on a fixed contract to start with. Transfer isn't as big a deal to them because of their short stay.. so transfers are kind of moot.

 

[HMF]

Do you want to start at the top ... well, he's gone anyway. Take Jay Rasulo and Nick Franklin on down ... there are MANY jobs on the line.

Jay Rasulo can lose his job over this? I will be watching this intently.

 

[wannab@dis]

^ I have no idea what any of that means.
At some point, we're gonna have to get a tech-to-English translator involved in this thread.

My apologies. I was trying to keep it simple, but so much of the jargon is second nature, I forget not everyone knows techno babble and acronyms. If you're truly interested, ask a question. I'll try to explain my speculation better.

All I know is, it ain't workin' right and that's just fine by me.

Why do you want it to fail? Personally, I see a long term benefit from these new initiatives. But, I'm a tech fan, so combining Disney / tech will of course interest me.

 

[Rasvar]

I've been away for so long that I can't read everything nor cover everything. I do know the mobile app has had integration issues with the wider system. It appears the latest update has added more password prompts and gotten a little more robust in the way it handles profiles. However, unless I am mistaken, the mobile app has no access to any financial information. Credit card information is not accessible and you are not able to do anything that requires a financial transaction over the app. It is informational. If there has been a case of wrong profiles showing up on the website, where the financial data is available, that is a much more critical error.

This is a rewrite of just about every back office system and trying to unite a ton of formerly independent systems. Not really a lot of off the shelf options to do this, so there will be mistakes. So far, it appears that critical data has been firewalled away from just the informational aspects. However, releasing wrong name, address and other personal information is problematic if that occurred. My concerns aren't with the security of the information in the systems. Will there be mistakes? Yes. There is no perfect security system in the electronic world. I make sure I watch my data and can figure out who messed up. (For my Disney stuff, I have a specific email address that only applies to them as one of my methods) I'm more concerned about the long term use of the data they gather from the system. There will be breaches and errors. I've had third party breaches of my financial info. I just know that I will deal with it as best I can.

 

[lazyboy97o]

^ I have no idea what any of that means.
At some point, we're gonna have to get a tech-to-English translator involved in this thread.

All I know is, it ain't workin' right and that's just fine by me.

You know how you can go to Home Depot and buy a stock lock set that includes a key? And you can buy a few with the same number on the box so that the same key can work with multiple locks? Somebody else could take their house key and let themselves into your house because you both bought that same stock lock and key set. It's possible there is a similar situation. There is possibly an overlap in the keys being distributed and the system is going to the first door that opens.

 

[Genie of the Lamp]

Meanwhile Genie of the lamp just likes everybody and says....cant we all just get along!

That's exactly what I try to accomplish/get across when I participate in these discussion threads. I understand though that it won't always be the case. You get me so well now. Figure I'd be a good role model for the mods in terms of how to behave on this site.

 

[Lee]

Why do you want it to fail?

Mostly because I find it to be an enormous misuse of funds. At a time when there are so many aspects of the parks that are in need of attention (refurbing, updating, additions, etc.) spending well over a billion dollars on an enormous data mining scheme offends me down to my park-loving core.

In my mind, the whole thing is one giant example of how they just don't get it.

(Plus, I oppose anything that can possibly penalize me for not booking my trip, meals and rides way in advance. Sounds horrible.)

 

[Lee]

You know how you can go to Home Depot and buy a stock lock set that includes a key? And you can buy a few with the same number on the box so that the same key can work with multiple locks? Somebody else could take their house key and let themselves into your house because you both bought that same stock lock and key set. It's possible there is a similar situation. There is possibly an overlap in the keys being distributed and the system is going to the first door that opens.

Now THAT I understood!

 

[wannab@dis]

You know how you can go to Home Depot and buy a stock lock set that includes a key? And you can buy a few with the same number on the box so that the same key can work with multiple locks? Somebody else could take their house key and let themselves into your house because you both bought that same stock lock and key set. It's possible there is a similar situation. There is possibly an overlap in the keys being distributed and the system is going to the first door that opens.

Nice translation!

 

[sshindel]

So, I'll admit, I've stayed far away from this thread for a while and tried to catch up in the last few pages, so feel free to send me to the curb here if it's been discussed ad nauseum.
How much of the large pricetag that we've seen bandied about on here was spent on updating/integrating legacy systems? My assumption here is that it's been the largest dollar spend in the entire project.
It seems we know that there are many systems out existing in Disney, and previously they were not integrated together. Passholders for DL and WDW were stored in separate systems. Reservations and ADRs again, seemed to be different systems. Marketing, sales, etc, all different systems. This is something you'll likely find in nearly every corporation.
It makes me wonder here how much time and effort has been put into either a complete replacement to their existing systems (a overall integration / master data management effort) and how much has been done via some form of virtualization (either in-house or 3rd party).
Doing these kinds of works is HARD, take a ton of time, money, and commitment. There are rarely shortcuts. My assumption with the high dollar amount that has been placed on this whole project was that the largest part of that budget went to basically completely rebuilding their data infrastructure. The data mining pieces, while containing interesting bits of technology (RFID), spoke more to me of something that was being dropped on top of the new infrastructure. The data collection/analysis in some form of Big Data solution (NoSQL/Hadoop), and that being relatively easy to put in place on top of a new infrastructure, not a disparate set of systems. I felt the data mining piece was really only the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

Any idea on how the multi-billion pricetag was truly broken down? Feel free to tell me to go search it myself if its readily available.

 

[Jane Doe]

Mostly because I find it to be an enormous misuse of funds. At a time when there are so many aspects of the parks that are in need of attention (refurbing, updating, additions, etc.) spending well over a billion dollars on an enormous data mining scheme offends me down to my park-loving core.

In my mind, the whole thing is one giant example of how they just don't get it.

(Plus, I oppose anything that can possibly penalize me for not booking my trip, meals and rides way in advance. Sounds horrible.)

This is my opinion too. Parallels can also be drawn when Flynnibus mentioned a friend who's a frequent flyer with SAS and is thrilled to bits with their latest bit of techno kit, given the amount of trouble that particular airline is in maybe they should be concentrating more on the airline side of their business rather than aiding their passenger's shopping experience.

 

[Monty]

Mostly because I find it to be an enormous misuse of funds. At a time when there are so many aspects of the parks that are in need of attention (refurbing, updating, additions, etc.) spending well over a billion dollars on an enormous data mining scheme offends me down to my park-loving core.

In my mind, the whole thing is one giant example of how they just don't get it.

(Plus, I oppose anything that can possibly penalize me for not booking my trip, meals and rides way in advance. Sounds horrible.)

We don't fully know how they will handle incorporating locals and AP holders into the NextGen system. You and your buddy choose to extrapolate the absolutely most negative/cynical scenario and broadly condemn the entire system based on your conjecture. Maybe you're right, maybe not.

Disney has decided to invest what is to all intents a relatively modest amount of their overall revenue stream into what appears to me to be a fairly ambitious new approach to a very broad range of the day-to-day operations of WDW and potentially other resorts in future. The fact that you and '74 don't understand every aspect of the system they are building apparently is too much for you so you've turned into petulant children creaming "I don't like it!" and stomping your feet. Anyone who sees past the minor set-backs [which can reasonably be expected in such a massive undertaking] and suggests that there is some pretty amazing potential in the proposed system are belittled as pixie-dust-snorting fanbois.

Perhaps, God forbid, it's you and Spirit who "just don't get it"?