Re: Suftware Subscription strikes again.

[Larry Bolhuis <lbolhui@xxxxxxx>]

> Hardware Maintenance thru IBM?
> I'd look elsewhere for a maintenance contract.

  That's your opinon and one you may certainly hold, but I would differ!!! In my
experience (and my father's who worked for one of the biggest 3rd party
maintenance companies for 20 years) Non IBM maintenance is a crap shoot.  In one
area you get good CEs with management that backs them up and parts are 
available.
In another you get a CE that can't recognize an AS/400, has never been trained
and couldn't get parts if his life depended on it!  The IBM CEs here spend time
fixing whilt the 3rd party guys are on the phone explaining to some guy at
'central' what type of card is in what slot..... I have sat with customers while
the CE spent as much as 4 hours on the phone just getting authorization to order
the parts!!!  Then they gotta come from Phoenix or some far away place (great if
you live near there, sucks here in Michigan!!)

  I don't know about the rest of you but when my or my customer's AS/400 does,
however infrequently, fail I want a CE that's trained and the right parts NOW! 
Here in West Michigan most parts are in stock and those that aren't get taxid
from Detroit or Chicago in 3 or 4 hours - the time it takes many of the 3rd 
party
guys to process the paperwork. In all my midrange years IBM has never flinched 
at
orderding in parts, while the 3rd party guys are still re-seating cards and
guessing.

  My .02, it's your system.

  - Larry

-- 
Larry Bolhuis         |
Arbor Solutions, Inc  |
(616) 451-2500        |  
(616) 451-2571 -fax   | 
lbolhui@ibm.net       |
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