State computers crashed on Cyber Monday, but apparently it wasn’t because too many workers were searching the Internet
for bargains.
State Chief Information Officer Todd Nacapuy said the state’s mainframe was down because of a power failure caused during routine maintenance to the system’s backup power supply.
An estimated 300 to 400 employees were affected by intermittent power failures between 11:30 a.m. and
3 p.m., said Keith DeMello, senior communications manager with the Office of Enterprise Technology
Services.
There were no reports of damage caused by the crash, Nacapuy said.
This was the fourth power failure suffered by the state in the past six months due to infrastructure problems at the aging Kalanimoku Building on Punchbowl Street, which is home to the state Department of Accounting and General
Services, among other agencies.
THE state’s computer system is in the building’s basement, where the infrastructure is in dire need of an upgrade, officials said.
The state is looking at more permanent solutions to the problem, including the possibility of relocating the computer system.
More than 49,000 employees rely on the state’s computer systems.
In August the state began blocking video streaming sites on state computers after discovering that employees spent between 100 and 300 hours watching Netflix during one week.
Elsewhere on Monday, on the biggest online shopping day of the year, there there were a couple of high-profile computer crashes.
Target said its website was restored after being overwhelmed by online shoppers, while PayPal sputtered through interruptions on Cyber Monday as well.
