[Info-vax] Itanic is a dead end : IBM

[John Wallace]

On May 31, 10:12 pm, "Richard B. Gilbert" <rgilber... at comcast.net>
wrote:
> On 5/31/2011 1:05 PM, Simon Clubley wrote:
>
>
>
> > On 2011-05-31, Phillip Helbig---undress to reply<hel... at astro.multiCLOTHESvax.de>  wrote:
> >> In article<4de44ac9$0$31217$c3e8da3$b280b... at news.astraweb.com>, JF
> >> Mezei<jfmezei.spam... at vaxination.ca>  writes:
>
> >>> Remember when Compaq decided there was no demand for VMS 8.* for VAX (as
> >>> had been promised) and never delivered it ?
>
> >>> I have heard through the grapevine that this was not true. There was demand.
>
> >> Note everything in the grapevine is true.  Also, it depends on HOW MUCH
> >> demand there was from PAYING CUSTOMERS.  I don't think they would
> >> voluntarily refuse profits.
>
> > You have clearly never tried to get a VMS related quote out of HP in
> > recent years.
>
> I have had lots of experience with quotes from DEC/Compaq/H-P.  Every
> year I had to renew the hardware service and software service contracts.
> My most recent experience was in 2004.
>
> DEC/Compaq/HP would open negotiations with a quote for everything we
> ever had or ever hoped to have!
>
> Scaling this document down to match reality was quite a chore.  The
> quote listed every bit of hardware and software we ever had, or ever
> hoped to have.
>
> You would think that, having finally gotten a correct contract quote
> that the next time would be easy.  Just strike out the hardware and
> software that we no longer used and add the new.
>
> NOT SO!!!!!
>
> So strike out all the stuff you NEVER had, and all the stuff
> DEC/Compaq/HP wishes you had.  If you had to strike out the same lime
> items that you struck out last year, that was the way the system worked.
>
> Now add the H-P hardware and software that HP left out of the quote.
>
> Iterate a few times and we FINALLY get a quote that's a reasonable
> facsimile of what we really want.
>
> I know not why the process was so difficult but I had to devote three or
> four weeks each year to get the next year's service contract right.  I
> never did find out the nature of the underlying problem but it was
> systemic.

If I remember rightly, by 2004, FS/Digital Services contract admin had
been outsourced for several years. My recollection is that EDS took it
on (long before HP bought EDS), and rather amazingly a quick web
search confirms this, and finds a senior manager from the time who
appears to be proud of the improvements he introduced in Digital
Services, including this one:

http://homepage.mac.com/e.cor/Cormac/page3/page3.html

"I was recruited by Digital's Global Service Division Head (John
Rando) after he heard of the work I'd done in Costain. I joined as VP,
CIO Global Services and member of the executive management team
reporting to John [snip]

I built a service alliance with Microsoft around its Exchange product,
and led the charge away from Digital traditional products to
Microsoft. [snip]

In addition I negotiated (internally and externally with EDS) the
functional outsourcing of all of Digital's service contract
administration(estimated cost of over $350m) to improve customer
satisfaction (from 55% to 85%) and improve cash flow (taking ten days
out of collections). As an off-set side deal, the outsourcing contract
gave Digital Services access to EDS controlled $750m service
business."

And look where all that led.