RE: SWMA question -- MIDRANGE-L

The SWMA lapsed in January. The BP sent the renewal notice to a dead email
address in December, and didn't make a follow-up phone call. Yes, it could
have been ordered, but as I pointed out to Rob, this is a small contractor
out in the boonies of Georgia. They're not going to put a lot of effort into
upgrading just because the new version of the OS adds a new bell or whistle.
Would you go buy a new miter saw because the manufacturer added a little
laser light that shows you where the blade is touching? :-))

Paul Nelson
Cell 708-670-6978
Office 512-392-2577
nelsonp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jack Kingsley
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2012 7:37 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: SWMA question

Have to ask, from the time that SWMA lapsed to when 7.1 came out was there
a time that you could have ordered it. Tough one for the BP, but a tougher
one for your customer.

On Tue, Jul 3, 2012 at 8:32 AM, Paul Nelson <nelsonp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

<<When you were paying for maintenance and had swma did you ever order 6.1
of the OS.>>

Yup. I even flew out there to upgrade both machines to 6.1 when the new
software vendor had them upgrade the OS.

The decision has been made now to pay the "extortion", and the BP will now
be cut out of the loop. They will make their contracts straight with IBM

the future.

Paul Nelson
Cell 708-670-6978
Office 512-392-2577
nelsonp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Jack Kingsley
Sent: Tuesday, July 03, 2012 7:24 AM
To: Midrange Systems Technical Discussion
Subject: Re: SWMA question

Paul, maybe you could avoid the excess charges by buying a new machine and
incorporate your new hardware/software maintenance into it. You have to

on top of your contracts with IBM, this I would say should include other
equipment that you may have from IBM, tape drive etc. Unfortunately you
need to micro manage IBM and yourself to know when your contracts are

going

to expire and or when they might need to be renewed. When you were paying
for maintenance and had swma did you ever order 6.1 of the OS. On your
current machine how current are you with ptf levels etc. The cost model

reinstate is very high once it lapses and if that period is excessive then
you might need to work out a deal through your BP quite possibly if once
can be made.

On Tue, Jul 3, 2012 at 7:43 AM, <rob@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Shannon,

While you're at this will you contact my mortgage company and ask them

why

they charge an arbitrary, and capricious, tax on me if I am late on my
payment?
Will you also contact my auto loan holder and ask them why they charge

arbitrary, and capricious, tax on me if I am late on my payment?
If you are successful on getting those resolved then I have a host of
others I'd like you to contact.

Or do you believe that those are tangible products you can touch (house
and car) while products of the mind (software, music, movies) should all
be available for free?

Why aren't they using their support? Are they on some testosterone

fueled

binge to do everything themselves instead of asking IBM why this and

that

isn't working like it's supposed to? Are they ignoring all the stuff

IBM

fixes every day with PTFs like security breaches, broken stuff, etc and
not applying these patches? Or are they of the mindset that if I don't
look at the gas gauge then it's really not approaching empty?

Rob Berendt
--
IBM Certified System Administrator - IBM i 6.1
Group Dekko
Dept 1600
Mail to: 2505 Dekko Drive
Garrett, IN 46738
Ship to: Dock 108
6928N 400E
Kendallville, IN 46755
http://www.dekko.com

From: "Shannon ODonnell" <sodonnell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: "'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'"
<midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Date: 07/02/2012 07:00 PM
Subject: RE: SWMA question
Sent by: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx

I don't understand why there is a penalty in the first place.

That is, I get that IBM is trying to encourage customers to renew their
SWMA
and they "penalize" them for waiting.

I get it, but I don't understand it.

To me, this seems like an arbitrary, and capricious, tax on the

customer,

and it gives business' yet another reason not to stay on the i5 (I

forget,

is that the name everyone is foaming at the mouth at the moment and
jumping
all over anyone who dares to use AS/400, iSeries or some other
name?...wouldn't want to offend...).

IBM is saying to their customer, "Listen bub. You have 60 days to

renew

your maintenance agreement. If you don't do it in that time frame,

then

we
are going to arbitrarily tax you on it. And we'll keep piling on the
penalties until you finally agree to pay. That'll keep your dumb ass in
line! Teach YOU! To play with the big boys!"

That is so dumb.

Now, if the client was still USING IBM's software maintenance service to
get
upgrades, software support to resolve issues, etc...and they had not

PAID

for the service they were currently using...then I can see a penalty
interest. Just like any bill that you owe for goods and services
rendered.
But if you're saying pay me a penalty on something you're not even

USING,

whenever you decide you want to use it AGAIN! On something that is
already
so expensive that you are already looking for a reason to get rid
of...then
that makes no sense to me at all.

So..."Who should pay?"

No one.

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Chris Bipes
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 4:38 PM
To: 'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'
Subject: RE: SWMA question

Can't help you but I never use an individual email for such things. We
use
distribution lists such as purchasing@ or renewal@ . We always have

more

than one individual in the list. We missed renewals and paid for it
before.
Not just from IBM either.

What is wrong with the picture? Well 1. IBM did not follow through. 2.
Their business partner did not keep track, 3. Their Accounting / IT
department did not tack it.

Who should pay for the mistake?

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Paul Nelson
Sent: Monday, July 02, 2012 2:27 PM
To: 'Midrange Systems Technical Discussion'
Subject: SWMA question

List,

Do any of you know the person at IBM who deals with business partner
relationships? I have a customer whose hardware and software maintenance
agreements expired last winter.

I just learned about it when I tried to order their V7 upgrade. I

tracked

down a clerk at the BP, who told me that she had emailed a renewal

notice

a
month or so before the expiration date, but hadn't heard back from the
customer.

She told me the person to whom she had emailed the invoice, but got real
quiet when I told her that guy had been gone for almost a year prior to
her
email. She got even quieter when I asked if she had bothered with a
follow-up phone call.

She just sent me a copy of the quote for setting up an new agreement,

and

the penalty is 116% of the agreement amount!

What's wrong with this picture?

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