Path: utzoo!dciem!nrcaer!sce!cognos!nigelc
From: nigelc@cognos.UUCP (Nigel Campbell)
Newsgroups: comp.databases
Subject: Re: Problems With Informix Turbo Engine
Keywords: BUGS , FIXES , BLACK HOLES
Message-ID: <8165@cognos.UUCP>
Date: 7 Apr 90 16:47:30 GMT
References: <2296@tellab5.tellabs.com> <1990Mar28.000821.28170@aqdata.uucp>
Reply-To: nigelc@cognos.UUCP (Nigel Campbell)
Organization: Cognos Inc., Ottawa, Canada
Lines: 48

In article <1990Mar28.000821.28170@aqdata.uucp> sullivan@aqdata.uucp (Michael T. Sullivan) writes:
>:From article <2296@tellab5.tellabs.com>, by segel@tellab5.tellabs.com (Mike Segel):
>>
>> Could you please tell me of a Software company that actually tells you ALL the 
>> know bugs in the current release? Would you still buy the package?
>
>Microport used to do this.  Of course, they're out of business.  I don't
>buy an awful lot of software packages to give an industry-wide rundown.
>It sure gave me the warm fuzzies to see that a company cared enough about
>its customers to let it know about known bugs and fixed bugs.  Would YOU
>buy a package from a company with the confidence to supply a bugs list??
>Why wouldn't you?
>-- 

 I think that all software vendors are faced with a client base who 
 frequently precieve the vendor as marketing driven and more interested
 in new sales . Every vendor usually tries to service the client and 
 make information available and obviously not every customer is going
 to use the service properly or at all which can increase their 
 frustration . 

 Cognos has set various procedures in place which try to ensure that 
 any major problem that a client reports is resolved in a manner that
 is acceptable to the client . This may be a simple workaround to a
 patch : patching however raises the clients expectations for the next
 problem he reports ..... "I want a patch !!!!! NOW !!!!!!" .

 Information flow between both parties is critical and this requires
 that the customer designate primary contacts who will liase between
 the vendor and thehe programmers . This reduces the frequency of 
 bugs reports/newsletters etc being shoved in someone private hoard
 of notes . The vendors sales force must also be proactive by visiting
 or calling the clients to see whats happening this may not result
 in problems being fixed immediatley but creates those warm fuzzies 
 that many people like . 

 Any vendor who does not appear to care about existing clients is 
 greatly reducing the number of reference sites that he can use to
 leverage new sales . As for would someone buy from a vendor who
 admits that there are 100,300,500+ outstanding problems with his
 software I would think that they would if they were given positive
 feedback from other existing clients who felt that the vendor cared .

-- 
Nigel Campbell          Voice: (613) 783-6828                P.O. Box 9707
Cognos Incorporated       FAX: (613) 738-0002                3755 Riverside Dr.
uucp: nigelc@cognos.uucp || uunet!mitel!sce!cognos!nigelc    Ottawa, Ontario
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