Why some DVLA digital services don't work at night

Something is missing here, why do batch jobs take 13 hours? If this thing was started on an old mainframe why isn't the downtime just 5 minutes at 3:39 AM?

Exactly how much data is getting processed?

Edit: Why does rebuilding take a decade or more? This is not a complex system. It doesn't need to solve any novel engineering challenges to operate efficiently. Article does not give much insight into why this particular task couldn't be fixed in 3 months.

> Edit: Why does rebuilding take a decade or more? This is not a complex system. It doesn't need to solve any novel engineering challenges to operate efficiently. Article does not give much insight into why this particular task couldn't be fixed in 3 months.

You do know the UK government has been cutting all their budgets to the bone for about 10 years? That means everywhere is pretty much understaffed.

And how do you know it's not a complex system? I would think that a system like that would be somewhat complex. It's not just driving licenses but a whole bunch of other things that are handled by the DVLA.

The system may or may not be complex but the data is has to store and transform is not. Because it handles drivers licenses. A function that has been done on pen and paper and filing cabinets.

Study the data, study the operations, reduce complexity.

Since you imply you know more about UK budgets than I do - how much is the DVLA budgeted for IT operations like this and how much more would you give them to expect this problem solved?

I can argue real numbers but vibes about bone dry budgets I cannot.