Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!mmlai!burzio
From: burzio@mmlai.UUCP (Tony Burzio)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: HP 3rd Party Software attitude
Summary: 3rd Party Support
Message-ID: <646@mmlai.UUCP>
Date: 14 Jan 90 15:24:24 GMT
References: <225@cmic.UUCP>
Organization: Martin Marietta Labs, Baltimore, MD
Lines: 34

In article <225@cmic.UUCP>, garvey@cmic.UUCP (Joe Garvey) writes:
> Sun will loan you a development
> system... HP (usually, in my experience) seems to want the 3rd party vendors to
> by (at retail) a development system. So Sun generates a larger volume (and
> more sales $$) while customers suffer with limited choices of software. Sigh.

This seems to be a common thread when 3rd party software support for HP is
not up to snuff.  Before you purchase softare for HP (or any other vendor)
you should first ask if they have your machine on site.  If they do not, you 
probably should go with another vendor, since any port will have lots of
bugs and you won't get good customer help on these problems.  Another
problem is when vendors support multiple platforms.  If your platform is
near last in line for new version ports, you should begin to wonder.

Vendors listed in the HP 3rd party software catalog should be checked to be
sure they have a machine on site...

> I haven't tried it. Maybe I will after I try to renew my support contract for
> this year (HP changed the part numbers/descriptions/configuration, again).

Gak!  Maintenance contracts!  HP does these as well as other computer
vendors, which is to say terrible.  They should have a SINGLE contact
for both software and hardware contracts, where a user could call up
and have his contracts verified at a moments notice.  I can get my
hardware contracts listed (which are always wrong) but I have no idea
what software I have under contract.  Local Sales Reps should not be
used to sell contracts, they should be used to sell computers.  My sales
rep has enough to do explaining my postings to his manangement. :-)

*********************************************************************
Tony Burzio               * To survive is not enough.
Martin Marietta Labs      *
mmlai!burzio@uunet.uu.net *
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