CAll for action - PLEASE READ

Hi
    Me again I know half of you are say shut up and go away and the rest
just do not care, well I have no where else to go and I think everyone
should care about our community.
    Yesterday I replied to the hostmaster email which contained nothing but
excuses for what has been an abysmal service on the hostmaster queue I will
get to that later. First I would like to say to the hostmaster in general
those who know me and those who do not, you are the backbone of our
community and you do a fine job...most of the time ;), and this email is in
no way aimed at the hostmasters, it is aimed at the management of the NCC.

    RIPE fundamental truth number 1 - The NCC is there to work for the
BENEFIT of the RIPE community at large.
    RIPE fundamental truth number 2 - We the RIPE community do not expect
the NCC staff to do this out of love but are charged a SERVICE fee which
enables the NCC to staff competent, intelligent hostmasters equal to the
task at hand.

    So lets look at the facts. How many people work for the NCC 100 approx?
How many are working as hostmasters 27? I do not see the lack of staffing,
what I do see is a shift in priorities. All NCC staff members should be
trained on the hostmaster desk for at least 6 months or until they are a
competent hostmaster and can make correct decisions on requests. All NCC
staff should spend a week every 6 months answering queries so they never
lose their hostmaster skill. Throwing more staff at the wait queue problem
is not the answer we have the staff at the NCC they are just not used when
needed to help with increased work loads.
    Question - How many times has the wait queue ever been at an acceptable
level 3 days max? Notice I said max not minimum, requests should not be in
the queue longer than 3 days even this would be excessive in my view. In the
current climate order to revenue needs to be as short as possible and if we
have to build into the order process a possible 10 day delay that is
unacceptable, we should be able to build in to our order processes a
standard response time for all requests. And remember the wait queue list
only measures how long before the initial response it does not account for
the email conversation between hostmasters which could mean anything upto a
week or more.
    So lets go back to the email we received giving us excuses for the
pitiful turnaround times:

1.  Firstly, the number of tickets opened by LIRs during the first three
  months of 2002 was approximately 6% higher than that period in 2001.

I am sorry this is bad management it is obvious this increase would happen
why was it not planned for? We work on the internet which has not stopped
growing or had that escaped managements notice ;)

2. Secondly, the number of mergers and closures of LIRs have more than
  doubled and their complexity has risen. We are seeing far more mergers
  involving six or more LIRs. Fuller details will be presented at the next
  RIPE meeting (RIPE42, 29 April - 3 May 2002 in Amsterdam).

And? This in no way should have any impact on the rest of the community -
bad management!

3.  Finally, the "criteria for an initial /20 PA allocation" policy
  implemented in November 2001 has placed an additional load on our
  New-LIR Co-ordinators.

Now this is possibly the worst, since the NCC came up with this policy it
would have seemed obvious to the world that this would increase the load on
the hostmasters apart from the NCC management as they did not planned for
it.

    They are not reasons they are excuses for bad management and far from
excusing the hostmasters for not doing their job (because they are) if
firmly points the finger at bad management and a lack of prioritising.
    The NCC has the resources to get the wait queue under control they are
not being used. When was the last time Axel approved a request? If
management do not see the wait queue as a major problem we are in trouble.
If management do see the problem why are all hands not on the pumps (ALL)? I
am not going to even start on the task force findings and ask what has been
done and what has not been done it just frustrates our efforts.

To summarise:
A. ALL NCC staff should be trained on the hostmaster queue.
B. ALL NCC staff should help with excessive wait queues 3 days +.
C. If the above is not acceptable I would remind the community of the 2
fundamental truths stated at the start of this email.
D. If A and B do not solve the problem then we look to changing the workflow
process i.e.. adding an automated approval system with proper audit tracking
and processes as detail by the task force or arrange another task force paid
by the NCC this time.
http://www.ripe.net/ripe/meetings/archive/ripe-39/presentations/lir-wg39-ple
naryreport/sld012.html

This problem has reared its head too many times, its now time to listen to
the community and do what they ask, you the NCC have given us your assurance
this would be brought under control and have failed every time. Have a look
at APnic, they would never have a wait queue longer than 3 days, and if ARIN
had the wait queue we have the Americans would be calling for legal action.
Why should we put up with a second rate service? It used to be RIPE was the
registry which showed the way it should be done, i think it may have been
side tracked.

Lets get this one solved once and for all time!!

Regards




Stephen Burley
WorldCom EMEA Hostmaster
SB855-RIPE