The majority of actual IT function for IBM Australia is provided by IBM India. It was likely a calculated risk, locking out non-Australians would knowingly impact their offshore operations, but having no resources locally to perform admin work anyway, it was something they just had to accept.
Unfortunately I've been involved in more than one "The running config wasn't saved to the permanent config" while working at IBM, it's something all network operations people should be entirely aware of by now, and is common enough and avoidable enough to be entirely inexcusable.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
