THOSE of you who read Fortune magazine may be familiar with a recurring short feature called “You Do What?” It briefly describes the duties of one who labors in a job that is essential, yet off the beaten path. In a recent issue, the feature profiled Randy Adair, whose job at IBM is listed as “Solutions Test Manager.” But it was the title of the article that caught my eye: “Cash Register Abuser.”
Yep, that he is. According to Adair, he has dropped cash registers to simulate mishandling during delivery. He puts them on shaking tables that simulate earthquakes. He pours 32-ounce soft drinks into the machines' innards. He bakes registers, and he freezes them.
The point of all this abuse? To give clients a high level of confidence in the reliability of IBM's machines. Adair cites one client whose roof was blown off by a hurricane. Quoting Adair, “Our service guys went out to help the store get the equipment running. They poured the water out of the machines and let them sit in the sun for three days. Once they were plugged in, they worked.” Now that's a testimonial!
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