RE: Vendor/BP application/service/product certification...somethoughts...

Don

Last I remember, the Global Solutions Directory, where we partners can put our apps, does have an initial kind of certification - you have to put in a customer experience - or maybe that is to get the ServerProven certification. At any rate, that and other certifications exist - like StorageProven. For that one you have to go through a process with IBM that they know your app will work properly with the DS???? hardware.

These probably do not go to the lengths you are speaking of - but they ARE more than just some vendor saying, "Buy from me - I'm cute!"

Vern
-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Don" <dr2@xxxxxxxx>

Jim,

I was thinking more along the line of a simpler cert process that would be
come an industry standard for our segment of the industry....

Was thinking further last night on this...this would be a great thing for
COMMON and IBM to do a joint venture with...

Don in DC

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jim Franz
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 10:52 PM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: Vendor/BP application/service/product
certification...somethoughts...

Don,
Perhaps this certification should not be any one vendor's responsibility. Do

other vendors (MS, Sun, etc) test and certify their partner's software?
Maybe something like PCI compliance...?
Jim Franz

----- Original Message -----
From: "Don"
To: "'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'"
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 8:10 PM
Subject: Vendor/BP application/service/product certification...some
thoughts...

Folks,

Something that's bugged me for a while...

We're mostly old enough to remember the old Ford ads that said "the
quality
goes in before the name goes on..."

Now, we both know that Rochester/Toronto/Austin, et al, are generating
quality product, but we also well know that the application is what the
people are buying.

Applications vary from system maintenance or other
tools/web/development/language utilities all the way up to the full blown
software packages that people use to run thier enterprises with.

IBM has made a major push in the past years to force certification of BP's
and the development community from a technical and marketing acumnet side.
But nothing has been done to certify that the applications these people
are
selling actually do what the vendor says they will, that the vendor has
available technical support, that there's good documentation and relevance
to the products, etc...