Transport of the future

[Thephoenix]

Just wondering what effects you think this pandemic may have on our future choice of transport, bearing in mind social distancing,  PPE,  air travel, environment etc.

Personally I've been enjoying my free bus pass for many years.
My usual buses are now empty. I'm using my car, and don't envisage going back onto public transport any time soon.

From an environmental point of view, we've been encouraged to use public transport, but now our cars have become an extension of our safe place when leaving home., so will we need to re-examine our future transport needs?
Are electric cars the answer?
Obviously cycling could be part of the answer, but not for everyone.
Is avoidance of public transport likely to encourage more use of mopeds as in Asia.

What about air travel and holidays?  Will it possibly encourage more folk to holiday in UK, particularly in  self catering accommodation or motor homes etc.

[King Nuts]

Just wondering what effects you think this pandemic may have on our future choice of transport, bearing in mind social distancing,  PPE,  air travel, environment etc.

Personally I've been enjoying my free bus pass for many years.
My usual buses are now empty. I'm using my car, and don't envisage going back onto public transport any time soon.

From an environmental point of view, we've been encouraged to use public transport, but now our cars have become an extension of our safe place when leaving home., so will we need to re-examine our future transport needs?
Are electric cars the answer?
Obviously cycling could be part of the answer, but not for everyone.
Is avoidance of public transport likely to encourage more use of mopeds as in Asia.

What about air travel and holidays?  Will it possibly encourage more folk to holiday in UK, particularly in  self catering accommodation or motor homes etc.

All good points. I think the airlines and train companies will be wanting us to get on board as soon as possible, and we'll probably see some very good deals. Inevitably there's going to be public resistance though, so it'll be an interesting tussle. And we've all seen empty buses trundling around.

I need to get up to London as soon as travel restrictions allow, but it'll be in my car. Not the train. I doubt I'll fly anywhere for some months too, but that's me being super cautious in spite of seeing some extraordinarily good deals on flights, especially across the Atlantic, from September onwards.

Meanwhile, while stuck at home, I am cycling everywhere. Haven't been fitter for years.

[Kev40ish]

Just wondering what effects you think this pandemic may have on our future choice of transport, bearing in mind social distancing,  PPE,  air travel, environment etc.

Personally I've been enjoying my free bus pass for many years.
My usual buses are now empty. I'm using my car, and don't envisage going back onto public transport any time soon.

From an environmental point of view, we've been encouraged to use public transport, but now our cars have become an extension of our safe place when leaving home., so will we need to re-examine our future transport needs?
Are electric cars the answer?
Obviously cycling could be part of the answer, but not for everyone.
Is avoidance of public transport likely to encourage more use of mopeds as in Asia.

What about air travel and holidays?  Will it possibly encourage more folk to holiday in UK, particularly in  self catering accommodation or motor homes etc.

I need to get to Tokyo, Beijing and Paris for work as soon as it’s safe to travel, I can have as many virtual meetings, but until I can get there it’s difficult to assess and review everything through Teams, Skype etc.

Obviously I will put it off as long as possible, I will avoid public transport and make all my journeys in the car at the present time

[Markus]

I need to travel as soon as it is reasonably safe to do so. I imagine the flights will be very expensive when things resume.  I’m hoping for July but nothing set it stone.

As for the future of local travel I will never stop using my car as far as reasonably possible. Public transport where I live doesn’t make sense for me.  We have one local bus which comes every 30 mins on weekdays. Trains are both expensive and tiresome.  If electric cars become more reasonable I would definitely consider one in the future.

As for holidaying at home, not for me.  I enjoy visiting parts of this country as it requires very little planning but I still enjoy the excitement of visiting a new country, trying new food & meeting exotic women  If anything this lockdown has made me appreciate how lucky we are to be able to visit other countries relatively inexpensively.

[Beamer]

I need to get to Tokyo, Beijing and Paris for work as soon as it’s safe to travel, I can have as many virtual meetings, but until I can get there it’s difficult to assess and review everything through Teams, Skype etc.

Obviously I will put it off as long as possible, I will avoid public transport and make all my journeys in the car at the present time

Agree with the virtual meetings, ok for minor details but heavy decisions for me need face to face contact.
Not that keen on Zoom,  has anyone else had problems with it?

[winkywanky]

Just wondering what effects you think this pandemic may have on our future choice of transport, bearing in mind social distancing,  PPE,  air travel, environment etc.

Personally I've been enjoying my free bus pass for many years.
My usual buses are now empty. I'm using my car, and don't envisage going back onto public transport any time soon.

From an environmental point of view, we've been encouraged to use public transport, but now our cars have become an extension of our safe place when leaving home., so will we need to re-examine our future transport needs?
Are electric cars the answer?
Obviously cycling could be part of the answer, but not for everyone.
Is avoidance of public transport likely to encourage more use of mopeds as in Asia.

What about air travel and holidays?  Will it possibly encourage more folk to holiday in UK, particularly in  self catering accommodation or motor homes etc.

Interesting post.

At some point (dear God) CV will be either gone or under control, and not a real threat any longer.

I think everything will pretty well recover, almost to where it was. People will feel comfortable again about using PT and flying again.

However: it's clear that pollution levels are vastly reduced since Lockdown and I hope a big point will be made of this. This is in line with the way we're going in the West anyway, with the move towards electric cars and renewable energy. We already have a THIRD of our energy requirements in the UK met by renewables. Virtually no coal now too  .

So, perhaps recent events will consolidate our awareness of these issues? Hope so.

Good point about cycling, but as you say, not for everyone. You also mention scooters, which would be logical in freeing up roads a bit. Putting those two together you have electric bikes. I see these more and more on the roads, they're great for cities. And if you're overweight, older, unfit, whatever, then they're actually a very good solution because they work to assist your pedalling. In other words if you're unable to have much input the bike does it for you. But you make the input you can.

Regarding holidays at home, it's clear the continuing trend is a warmer and warmer climate for us, overall. The downside for us is where we sit in relation to the Jet Stream and our proximity to the Atlantic, with prevailing westerly winds bringing storms or remnants of storms onto our shores. So sadly we'll always have a big unpredictability factor. But I think we may well see more holidaying at home in the UK.

[winkywanky]

Oh yes, and as others have mentioned, so many people are actually able to WFH.

I think when all this shit is over, many of those who have been doing so, will hopefully continue to do so, freeing up sopace on the roads and on PT.

That could be WFH all the time, or perhaps half the days in the week? Any reduction in the rush hour (infact, 2 x 2hrs a day at least) would be great.

[Beamer]

Oh yes, and as others have mentioned, so many people are actually able to WFH.

I think when all this shit is over, many of those who have been doing so, will hopefully continue to do so, freeing up sopace on the roads and on PT.

That could be WFH all the time, or perhaps half the days in the week? Any reduction in the rush hour (infact, 2 x 2hrs a day at least) would be great.

Many firms including commercial banks have had staff working from home for a fair while and before the lockdown
I suspect that as time goes on we will see a lot more. Commercial property Landlords must be wetting themselves.  One benefit will be hopefully the reduced office rents as companies see they don't need so much space.  Supply and demand will sort that out. I am already looking at this.

[Chorley]

Oh yes, and as others have mentioned, so many people are actually able to WFH.

I think when all this shit is over, many of those who have been doing so, will hopefully continue to do so, freeing up sopace on the roads and on PT.

That could be WFH all the time, or perhaps half the days in the week? Any reduction in the rush hour (infact, 2 x 2hrs a day at least) would be great.

Absolutely this. A huge amount of colleagues I work with could WFH pretty much full time. There's already been talk of staggering staff attendance in the office.
Doesn't really affect me though as my. job involves a large element of face to face work.
TBH, I'd prefer it if things stayed as they were post lockdown traffic wise and having less crowds. 

[winkywanky]

Many firms including commercial banks have had staff working from home for a fair while and before the lockdown
I suspect that as time goes on we will see a lot more. Commercial property Landlords must be wetting themselves.  One benefit will be hopefully the reduced office rents as companies see they don't need so much space.  Supply and demand will sort that out. I am already looking at this.

I think a lot of the reluctance to allow people to WFH is lack of control, are they going to do enough work, what will be their productivity etc. Also, presumably new systems will have to be put in place to allow safe access to work computers/emails etc. But where there's a will there's a way?

I think you're entirely right about commercial landlords shitting themselves, and a corollary of less demand for commercial office space will indeed bring down rents  .

[winkywanky]

Absolutely this. A huge amount of colleagues I work with could WFH pretty much full time. There's already been talk of staggering staff attendance in the office.
Doesn't really affect me though as my. job involves a large element of face to face work.
TBH, I'd prefer it if things stayed as they were post lockdown traffic wise and having less crowds. 

Are you one of the staggering staff Chorley? I do hope you receive some tangible recognition for your efforts during this difficult time  .

Yes, some people's jobs do need to be done out there, and not at home. There's no way I could have done any of my job at home, some jobs would be just impossible to do so.

But many don't need to be, and as we've seen with countries like Sweden recently, they seem to have a more grown-up and pragmatic attitude to it.

[lostandfound]

I think a lot of the reluctance to allow people to WFH is lack of control, are they going to do enough work, what will be their productivity etc. Also, presumably new systems will have to be put in place to allow safe access to work computers/emails etc. But where there's a will there's a way?

I think you're entirely right about commercial landlords shitting themselves, and a corollary of less demand for commercial office space will indeed bring down rents  .

That technology already exists and has been used for remote working for years (though maybe you knew that?). It will cost money to buy equipment if more is needed, but WFH is obvs less expensive in all sorts of ways.

Maybe a few more office blocks will get converted into apartments.

[winkywanky]

That technology already exists and has been used for remote working for years (though maybe you knew that?). It will cost money to buy equipment if more is needed, but WFH is obvs less expensive in all sorts of ways.

Maybe a few more office blocks will get converted into apartments.

I did have a bit of an idea of that, when I was still working my job was far from office-based but we were allowed remote, home log-in to emails and even intranet, and that was since around 2008?

Obviously this needs enhanced security protocols, as you say, this exists (and probably better than it used to be) but firms need to adopt it. This would presumably mean more expense and making sure workers were careful about opening attachments/dodgy emails etc, in their home environment. Fucking up your own cumputer and having to throw it in the bin is a lot different from exposing your company to large online attacks.

[winkywanky]

Maybe a few more office blocks will get converted into apartments.

Great point, and we could do with that in view of our housing crisis.

[Thephoenix]

I need to get to Tokyo, Beijing and Paris for work as soon as it’s safe to travel, I can have as many virtual meetings, but until I can get there it’s difficult to assess and review everything through Teams, Skype etc.

Obviously I will put it off as long as possible, I will avoid public transport and make all my journeys in the car at the present time

How will the airlines adopt any kind of distancing on flights, and would you have to wear masks because of the recirculating air?

Also, I can't see folk booking cruises for a while.

[lostandfound]

I did have a bit of an idea of that, when I was still working my job was far from office-based but we were allowed remote, home log-in to emails and even intranet, and that was since around 2008?

Obviously this needs enhanced security protocols, as you say, this exists (and probably better than it used to be) but firms need to adopt it. This would presumably mean more expense and making sure workers were careful about opening attachments/dodgy emails etc, in their home environment. Fucking up your own cumputer and having to throw it in the bin is a lot different from exposing your company to large online attacks.

Firms have options all the way from buying little or no equipment and just renting virtual infrastructure in the cloud, all the way to owning their own cloud if they don't trust the Amazon / Microsoft / Google ecosystem. They can give an employee a locked down laptop if they want to.

Essentially businesses don't need to have an IT department anymore if they don't want to have that expense.

[winkywanky]

How will the airlines adopt any kind of distancing on flights, and would you have to wear masks because of the recirculating air?

Also, I can't see folk booking cruises for a while.

They can't.

I guess there would be ways of reducing risk but then the economic model of flight simply falls apart.

[winkywanky]

And I think cruises are a BIG no-no.

Even with relatively insignificant outbreaks of salmonella etc, they rip through enclosed communities like cruises, causing perhaps a few deaths.

You only have to have ONE Covid carrier on a cruise and it'll be all over the shop like wildfire, as we saw early on in the crisis.

[lostandfound]

They can't.

I guess there would be ways of reducing risk but then the economic model of flight simply falls apart.

I agree - airlines are basically fucked. Especially if Boris mandates 14 day quarantine into the UK, and other countries adopt similar measures.

[Strawberry]

I am certain the WHO report on 'flu and also a lecture given on infection control to NHS staff in recent months stated that air onboard planes is relatively fresh, it's the plastic trays at hand luggage security and on which food is served that is the highest or most ignored risk.

Ryanair et all might have to spend more time between flights wiping surfaces, and thus prices may actually rise due to reduced capacity and some people do want to travel.

[lostandfound]

I am certain the WHO report on 'flu and also a lecture given on infection control to NHS staff in recent months stated that air onboard planes is relatively fresh, it's the plastic trays at hand luggage security and on which food is served that is the highest or most ignored risk.

Ryanair et all might have to spend more time between flights wiping surfaces, and thus prices may actually rise due to reduced capacity and some people do want to travel.

A350 and 787 have proper air conditioning, whereas earlier planes bleed air in from the engines, so it can be a little oily. Otherwise the circulating air is as clean as in an operating theatre, but passengers in the same or adjacent rows can pick up bugs from each other. IMO, as Winky suggests if they implement social distancing their operating model becomes uneconomic.

[winkywanky]

I am certain the WHO report on 'flu and also a lecture given on infection control to NHS staff in recent months stated that air onboard planes is relatively fresh, it's the plastic trays at hand luggage security and on which food is served that is the highest or most ignored risk.

Ryanair et all might have to spend more time between flights wiping surfaces, and thus prices may actually rise due to reduced capacity and some people do want to travel.

Sitting next to a Covid-19 carrier on a flight would likely pass it on to you.

Even if they left middle seats empty the risk would still be very high.

And leaving middle seats empty would mean all planes would be a maximum two-thirds full.

I don't think they could operate like that 

[Xtro]

Great! With all that WFH I'm sure the services and goods we receive will be a lot cheaper when the companies don't have such expensive overheads.   
Mind you, the people working at home should be reimbursed for using their homes as a workplace regarding lighting, heating, furniture and equipment. (is this allowed? Would house insurance cover be compromised? Any implications for Council Tax if half of your domestic household waste ends up being work waste?)   

[Beamer]

Sitting next to a Covid-19 carrier on a flight would likely pass it on to you.

Even if they left middle seats empty the risk would still be very high.

And leaving middle seats empty would mean all planes would be a maximum two-thirds full.

I don't think they could operate like that 

All airlines have a % breakeven point as regards seating utilisation.  I don't what this but would imagine it's c70%. Anyone know the figure?

[winkywanky]

Great! With all that WFH I'm sure the services and goods we receive will be a lot cheaper when the companies don't have such expensive overheads.   
Mind you, the people working at home should be reimbursed for using their homes as a workplace regarding lighting, heating, furniture and equipment. (is this allowed? Would house insurance cover be compromised? Any implications for Council Tax if half of your domestic household waste ends up being work waste?)   

I think within reason some help with heating and power might be considered. But then think of the many £1000s the worker saves with not having to travel to work?

I really do think it's win-win.

Insurance can easily be dealt with.

What work waste? The vast majority of communications would be electronic/digital, very little necessary extra printing etc?

[ratedj]

I think within reason some help with heating and power might be considered. But then think of the many £1000s the worker saves with not having to travel to work?

I really do think it's win-win.

Insurance can easily be dealt with.

What work waste? The vast majority of communications would be electronic/digital, very little necessary extra printing etc?

It is. As someone who is currently working from home I save two hours per day by not having to travel to work, as well as saving on travel expenses. Lastly, I have more flexibility regarding when I can start and finish work.

[winkywanky]

 

[Xtro]

Firms have options all the way from buying little or no equipment and just renting virtual infrastructure in the cloud, all the way to owning their own cloud if they don't trust the Amazon / Microsoft / Google ecosystem. They can give an employee a locked down laptop if they want to.

Essentially businesses don't need to have an IT department anymore if they don't want to have that expense.

I doubt that. Do you know how many people forget their passwords for logging onto a system? Dealing with this, (even remotely) is an IT chore. Companies and organisations have so much IT going on behind the scenes I doubt that this could be streamlined to the point of non-existance as you seem to suggest.

[lostandfound]

I doubt that. Do you know how many people forget their passwords for logging onto a system? Dealing with this, (even remotely) is an IT chore. Companies and organisations have so much IT going on behind the scenes I doubt that this could be streamlined to the point of non-existance as you seem to suggest.

Password reset is a simple admin function and doesn't require any particular IT skills or an IT department.

Always going to be push back from IT folks of course! Always is when change is proposed.

[scutty brown]

Transport demand patterns are going to change so much its hard to tell what the future is.
For instance my team have been involved in moving in the last five weeks something like 2500+ medical and support staff to working from home.
We've emptied complete swathes of offices, even moving call centres and help desks to home-based.
I reallly doubt if many of those will revert to  commuting, we've proved there's no need

[scutty brown]

A350 and 787 have proper air conditioning, whereas earlier planes bleed air in from the engines, so it can be a little oily. Otherwise the circulating air is as clean as in an operating theatre, but passengers in the same or adjacent rows can pick up bugs from each other. IMO, as Winky suggests if they implement social distancing their operating model becomes uneconomic.

I've had to strip apart electronic equipment used on operating theatres and I can assure you that its NOT clean. Absolutely caked in dirt inside

[scutty brown]

Firms have options all the way from buying little or no equipment and just renting virtual infrastructure in the cloud, all the way to owning their own cloud if they don't trust the Amazon / Microsoft / Google ecosystem. They can give an employee a locked down laptop if they want to.

Essentially businesses don't need to have an IT department anymore if they don't want to have that expense.

Remote working actually INCREASES the need for an IT department simply to handle the increased security risks and the increased data flows.
It certainly increases the helpdesk workload

[Xtro]

Password reset is a simple admin function and doesn't require any particular IT skills or an IT department.

Always going to be push back from IT folks of course! Always is when change is proposed.

I'm not in IT but I know the value of the behind the scenes work they do.
Password reset may be simple with a relatively up to date system but not all companies/organisations are up to date.
Didn't the NHS get hacked recently (WannaCry) due to the fact they were still running Windows XP? This cost us the taxpayer £92m, as well as 19,000 lost appointments. This suggests to me that IT is more important now than ever if there's going to be a mass exodus to WFH.

[lostandfound]

Remote working actually INCREASES the need for an IT department simply to handle the increased security risks and the increased data flows.
It certainly increases the helpdesk workload

Disagree. Security is location transparent, and data shouldn't be going to remote work locations. End user probs may surge during a changeover, but will settle down, and helpdesk is just admin.

[Beamer]

Remote working actually INCREASES the need for an IT department simply to handle the increased security risks and the increased data flows.
It certainly increases the helpdesk workload

Agreed, but the overall savings would still be significant even if IT costs increased.  Capital costs for new equipment might be an issue if companies are using IT kit "not fit for purpose"

[lostandfound]

I'm not in IT but I know the value of the behind the scenes work they do.
Password reset may be simple with a relatively up to date system but not all companies/organisations are up to date.
Didn't the NHS get hacked recently (WannaCry) due to the fact they were still running Windows XP? This cost us the taxpayer £92m, as well as 19,000 lost appointments. This suggests to me that IT is more important now than ever if there's going to be a mass exodus to WFH.

The behind the scenes work is mostly legacy crap - keeping stuff going that shouldn't be in use any more because there are better and newer alternatives. Companies with inefficient IT will likely go out of business. Comes down to quality of management. Any enterprise that is not well managed will lose out to more nimble competitors. Key to any business is its ability to manage change. If you cannot do that well you will not survive.

NHS Trusts still using outdated Windows XP is an argument in favour of them not having their own IT departments!

[King Nuts]

Great! With all that WFH I'm sure the services and goods we receive will be a lot cheaper when the companies don't have such expensive overheads.   
Mind you, the people working at home should be reimbursed for using their homes as a workplace regarding lighting, heating, furniture and equipment. (is this allowed? Would house insurance cover be compromised? Any implications for Council Tax if half of your domestic household waste ends up being work waste?)   

Until this lockdown, I was officially WFH 2 days out of five, per week. You can claim utilities etc against tax, and you can also add the WFH provision on your home insurance policy. Don't know about the Council tax thing you mention. (Best let that one go, for now...)

Am thinking going to three days per week as soon as circs. allow. At which point, 'home' becomes the base, and I think I can then start claiming for the commuting cost to the office for the two days a week I (might) make it in.

I'm a bit meh about all of this. I actually like being in the office and doing all the face to face stuff. Especially when Deirdre brings the tea round, and leans forward to place the cup on my desk, her ample bosoms, barely restrained by ill-fitting nylon overalls, brush against my arm, and she asks coquettishly if there will be anything else.

It's all in a day's work at Nuts Industries, Ltd.

[Doc Holliday]

NHS Trusts still using outdated Windows XP is an argument in favour of them not having their own IT departments!

On the plus side thank god they didn't upgrade to Vista 

[Doc Holliday]

I'm a bit meh about all of this. I actually like being in the office and doing all the face to face stuff. Especially when Deirdre brings the tea round, and leans forward to place the cup on my desk, her ample bosoms, barely restrained by ill-fitting nylon overalls, brush against my arm, and she asks coquettishly if there will be anything else.

 

Yes I think face to face social interaction is very important. It may not be business efficient in many respects if there is an alternative, but a balance should be sought.

[King Nuts]

Yes I think face to face social interaction is very important. It may not be business efficient in many respects if there is an alternative, but a balance should be sought.

I could in theory work from home all the time. My business is done by phone and email, same as a lot of people's. I don't want to go into detail, but I have always thought that business is best done face to face, and everyone being in the same room.

If I stopped meeting people and going on trips would it be efficient? Yes, in that I'd save a fair old bit, and everything would rumble on OK.

But I know that for the extra effort and cost expended in having meetings, going out to visit clients, taking them out for lunch, getting them pissed, and so on, that I can and do generate extra business that wouldn't have naturally happened otherwise.

[lostandfound]

On the plus side thank god they didn't upgrade to Vista 

  Very true - although WannaCry happened May 2017, and under the NHS Connecting for Health central procurement deal with Microsoft, all NHS Trusts held Windows 7 licences and had had many years opportunity to upgrade to it. 

[Thephoenix]

And I think cruises are a BIG no-no.

Even with relatively insignificant outbreaks of salmonella etc, they rip through enclosed communities like cruises, causing perhaps a few deaths.

You only have to have ONE Covid carrier on a cruise and it'll be all over the shop like wildfire, as we saw early on in the crisis.

Many years whilst travelling back from Australia by sea with my young family, every single child on board developed mumps.

[winkywanky]

Were the young lads all given wheelbarrows to carry their testicles around with them?   

[Strawberry]

Yes I think face to face social interaction is very important. It may not be business efficient in many respects if there is an alternative, but a balance should be sought.

I would agree and in some ways face-to-face is more efficient because meanings tend to be more explicit, more clues to pick up from each other and also easier to pick up nuances. Transferring online can save time and money, but lacks that human interaction which is valuable. Also the blurring of details, unclear voices is strange. Perhaps we or I will get used to it, will become the I dread to say it 'new norm'. 

Ok I like the crispness of human interaction, however I do value being able to connect with people all over the world.

I am hoping there is a choice and balance in the future, to attend or not to attend but access from home.

Finally it's easier to distract and multi-task, plus of course privacy issues online - meaning being overheard intentionally or unintentionally.

[scutty brown]

Agreed, but the overall savings would still be significant even if IT costs increased.  Capital costs for new equipment might be an issue if companies are using IT kit "not fit for purpose"

Capital cost is a major issue.
Take our network and what was involved to switch to home working
around 2500 new laptops with more to come
similar number of new licenses for Microsoft Office
licences for sercurity and other software
massive upgrade in our data bandwidth - something like 20x so far and need to up it again, Virgin love us...........
enhanced servers to allow for the increased number of VPN connection

look at the increased data load - an example is Skype for business. Sessions have gone from 800 / week to something like 2000 / day. Some of those are phone call replacements, some are Microsoft "Teams" meeting. But just to host that lot required a lot of back end work
Another aspect was the need to route the Cisco internal phone network through our network and out via the VPN to the at-home users - yet more data load
Labour demand was large - 12 hour days, 6/7 day weeks for the IT teams putting all this together, while at the same time having to cope with the viral risks - which hospitalised a team of  four on one site, while killing a couple of guys doing the same job for another trust.

One good thing -  its enabled the removal of any remaining Win7 machines. As for XP, the only  ones I've seen for years have been dedicated CCTV installations, and also controlling PCs for x-ray and scanning machines. All air-gapped from the network. FWIW I do know of a Win98 machine at one hospital trust - it holds the kitchen menus and the software can't be upgraded, while some hospitals use standalone Win2000 machines to control PCR analytical systems - again because the software can't be upgraded

[scutty brown]

Very true - although WannaCry happened May 2017, and under the NHS Connecting for Health central procurement deal with Microsoft, all NHS Trusts held Windows 7 licences and had had many years opportunity to upgrade to it. 

Truth is, we found XP machines were LESS vulnerable to Wannacry than unpatched Win7 machines

[lostandfound]

Truth is, we found XP machines were LESS vulnerable to Wannacry than unpatched Win7 machines

2008R2 / Win7 machines should have been automatically patched each month.

[scutty brown]

2008R2 / Win7 machines should have been automatically patched each month.

SHOULD be.
Thats the theory, the reality is different.
First you can't allow every PC to automatically update - the monthly data load can take the whole network down. So you have to route updates through software updates services servers to try and balance the load - and they're flaky bits of software especially as half the time Microsofts updates are flawed. You have to hold back from deploying them until they're checked through anyway in case Microsoft have fucked up.
Which brings to the second problem: compatibility. A lot of software used by the NHS is old, unpatched and often version specific to things like IE version, .net version, or even the service pack version of office. For years we were running around with out of date versions of IE because certain programs could not use anything newer. The newest version of Java we can use is ancient.
Happily a lot of these legacy problems have been got rid of, but there are still some areas of concern

[lostandfound]

SHOULD be.
Thats the theory, the reality is different.
First you can't allow every PC to automatically update - the monthly data load can take the whole network down. So you have to route updates through software updates services servers to try and balance the load - and they're flaky bits of software especially as half the time Microsofts updates are flawed. You have to hold back from deploying them until they're checked through anyway in case Microsoft have fucked up.
Which brings to the second problem: compatibility. A lot of software used by the NHS is old, unpatched and often version specific to things like IE version, .net version, or even the service pack version of office. For years we were running around with out of date versions of IE because certain programs could not use anything newer. The newest version of Java we can use is ancient.
Happily a lot of these legacy problems have been got rid of, but there are still some areas of concern

Network bandwidth. That old chestnut. Where were you working? Wales? Scotland? You'd have to be in a pretty rural area for updates to take the network down. 

All IT organisations deal with and manage issues of legacy software, and rolling out Windows updates. No excuse to be more exposed than any other large organisation. I suspect NHS Trusts that had issues with WannaCry had poorly managed IT.

[scutty brown]

Network bandwidth. That old chestnut. Where were you working? Wales? Scotland? You'd have to be in a pretty rural area for updates to take the network down. 

All IT organisations deal with and manage issues of legacy software, and rolling out Windows updates. No excuse to be more exposed than any other large organisation. I suspect NHS Trusts that had issues with WannaCry had poorly managed IT.

A major city  with an estate of >8,000 pcs
you get those updating together and the systems fucked