I wonder who the IT supplier is that fucked this up bigtime.
Working in IT, I think it’s good these kinds of things happen occasionally and get reported on. It helps if we can say “did you read about the fuckup at Vivaqua, do you want to risk that as well?”, when someone attempts to rush deadlines or reduce costs without taking the risks into account.
In this case it seems to have been caused by a migration to new software, and I 100% can see some manager saying “sure, we’ll copy over the existing data, can’t be that hard, we’ll do that in a few days for a fixed price!” followed by “well, I checked 3 customers in the new system and they all seemed fine, let’s get this to production!” and “what are edge cases? how can it work for one customer but not another, that’s impossible?!” and finally “well, we’re out of budget/time so just get whatever works live, we’ll fix things in the first couple of days surely!”
Just as a reminder, these issues are (in essence) not an IT issue.
>The criticism of her appointment and subsequently her salary (249,000 euros gross according to the 2017 annual report) has been silenced. A whole raft of measures offers far more guarantees of corporate governance, Bovy and Van Nuffel said in chorus during the interview.
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>But the problematic state of the company itself – over 1,700 employees large – is still a major pain point. (..)The water company’s services leave a lot to be desired, its sewage network is “in critical condition” and the company’s finances are particularly unhealthy, with mounting debt already exceeding €820 million, while at the same time the company is in the red.
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>Vivaqua could ensure that its own reputation is somewhat polished again. In recent years, its name fell mainly when it came to political settlements (“politieke afrekeningen”). Until 2014, the Liège-born Bovy was still one of the most influential socialist leaders in the wings of power, as chief of cabinet of then-minister Laurette Onkelinx. Which, incidentally, she combined with chairmanships of, among others, SNCB (2009-2013) and the federal government’s investment company FPIM (2013-2016). But with the arrival of the Michel government, her career in the wings of power came to an abrupt end. In late 2016, she suddenly resurfaced. Vivaqua’s directors elected her as its new ceo. Even though she had not come out top in the selection process.
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TLDR: Vivaqua can’t send invoices, therefore insufficient funds to pay employees.
I wonder who the IT supplier is that fucked this up bigtime.
Working in IT, I think it’s good these kinds of things happen occasionally and get reported on. It helps if we can say “did you read about the fuckup at Vivaqua, do you want to risk that as well?”, when someone attempts to rush deadlines or reduce costs without taking the risks into account.
In this case it seems to have been caused by a migration to new software, and I 100% can see some manager saying “sure, we’ll copy over the existing data, can’t be that hard, we’ll do that in a few days for a fixed price!” followed by “well, I checked 3 customers in the new system and they all seemed fine, let’s get this to production!” and “what are edge cases? how can it work for one customer but not another, that’s impossible?!” and finally “well, we’re out of budget/time so just get whatever works live, we’ll fix things in the first couple of days surely!”
Just as a reminder, these issues are (in essence) not an IT issue.
Vivaqua is the typical Brussels “intercommunale” focussing more on paying their directors and political games than water supply. [This reddit from 5y ago](https://www.reddit.com/r/belgium/comments/6j46r9/mayeur_and_other_vivaqua_directors_get_65000_euro/) (*Mayeur and other Vivaqua directors get 65.000 euro plus car*) gives some backgrond, as [this article from 2019](https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20190429_04364474). Some quotes from that article:
>The criticism of her appointment and subsequently her salary (249,000 euros gross according to the 2017 annual report) has been silenced. A whole raft of measures offers far more guarantees of corporate governance, Bovy and Van Nuffel said in chorus during the interview.
​
>But the problematic state of the company itself – over 1,700 employees large – is still a major pain point. (..)The water company’s services leave a lot to be desired, its sewage network is “in critical condition” and the company’s finances are particularly unhealthy, with mounting debt already exceeding €820 million, while at the same time the company is in the red.
​
>Vivaqua could ensure that its own reputation is somewhat polished again. In recent years, its name fell mainly when it came to political settlements (“politieke afrekeningen”). Until 2014, the Liège-born Bovy was still one of the most influential socialist leaders in the wings of power, as chief of cabinet of then-minister Laurette Onkelinx. Which, incidentally, she combined with chairmanships of, among others, SNCB (2009-2013) and the federal government’s investment company FPIM (2013-2016). But with the arrival of the Michel government, her career in the wings of power came to an abrupt end. In late 2016, she suddenly resurfaced. Vivaqua’s directors elected her as its new ceo. Even though she had not come out top in the selection process.
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Translated with [www.DeepL.com/Translator](http://www.DeepL.com/Translator) (free version)