Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!mcvax!ukc!etive!hwcs!zen!frank
From: frank@zen.co.uk (Frank Wales)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: HP-UX 5.3 for Series 5xx ...
Message-ID: <1651@zen.co.uk>
Date: 19 Jul 89 18:32:03 GMT
References: <226@innovus.UUCP>
Reply-To: frank@zen.co.uk (Frank Wales)
Organization: Zengrange Limited, Leeds, England
Lines: 81

In article <226@innovus.UUCP> rob@innovus.UUCP (Rob Sciuk) writes:
>While we are on the topic of SMS support, we have been experiencing
>a number of difficulties with our support services on the 3xx and 8xx's

You are not alone in this, although things are improving in some
areas.

>	o  Software shipments are typically late (as software developers
>	   we like to get O/S upgrades *BEFORE* our customers).

It seems to vary, but mostly we seem to get our update tapes after
other people; we once jokingly considered changing our company name to
Aardvark Systems just to see it if had an effect on deliveries.

Regarding getting updates prior to customers, we often arrange to
receive the customer's update tapes at our site, which means that we
*do* get the release before them, but also means that we have to install
it ourselves.  It depends what type of customers you have, and how many.

>	o  Media does not ship in 1 package, and is spread out
>	   over several shipments.  This makes it exceedingly
>	   difficult to determine when your materials are all
>	   on hand and you can safely upgrade.

This will be getting changed, as I understand it.  Indeed, we recently
received our 6.5 bundles all in one box, with (most) manuals.  Surprisingly,
though, the bundle tape also included some products for which we had
already been sent separate 6.5 product tapes, so things aren't all
together just yet.  Also, after taking delivery of 3.1 core product
tapes, and then nothing for a while, we got all the other 3.1 tapes
we were due (which is practically every 800 product in the book :-))
in one shipment (although they were still in several boxes, and
the manuals are still catching up).

>	o  Media is always 9144 *sigh* when 9 Track would be
>	   ever so much easier/reliable/convenient/etc etc.

This is definitely a contracts problem; we receive 300 updates on
DC600 cartridge, but 800 updates on 9 track, 1600 bps tapes.  I'm
sure you could get this changed, at least for the 800s.

>	o  Shipments are product oriented and not customer oriented.
>	   by creating a customer specific distribution tape, the
>	   extra labour must be MORE than offset in terms of media
>	   (those *expletive deleted* cartridges are expensive!).

Don't forget that duplication of one tape is much easier (i.e., cheaper)
than separate preparation of many different tapes; it is also less error
prone.  I don't object to separate tapes (we strip the labels off and
use them for other things anyway); it's the horrendous amount of manuals
I object to, especially those we don't need, like all the PORT-UX stuff
(please unbundle this product) and the Beginner's Guides and the 
almost entirely useless and bizarrely named Documentation
Roadmaps.  The turnover on manual sets is only going to get worse
with the introduction of non-ring bound HP-UX Reference sets (which
can't be laid down flat, arrgh!, and look like they were printed on toilet
paper).

One other point which I'd like to make is:

	o  Software Status Bulletins are an excellent idea iff
	   they contain information useful to the customers.
	   *Please* can you edit them so that those problems which
	   are reported don't get summed up in one line, such
	   as KPR4700691063:

	         Product: HPUX  One-Line Description: 
	           Colored boxes has [sic] extraneous black
	           lines across them using topgun.

That's the whole problem report.  I'd be interested to find out how
many people within HP know what this is, what it refers to, and whether
it has a fix available (if it needs one).

For any problems reported, I'd like enough information to know if I have
the problem at my site, and equally important, whether a fix is (or will
be) available.  Maybe I'm unusual in caring about the state of HP-UX
enough to actually read this stuff.
--
Frank Wales, Systems Manager,        [frank@zen.co.uk<->mcvax!zen.co.uk!frank]
Zengrange Ltd., Greenfield Rd., Leeds, ENGLAND, LS9 8DB. (+44) 532 489048 x217