Glen,

I think the issue that I, and others, have with the "you've got
to tell it to your local rep" response is that it is in direct
conflict with the idea that it is Marketing's responsibility to
read the market. As Richard pointed out, this forum has some
1800+ members of the ADSM community, and some very vocal ones at
that, with many *great* ideas on how to improve the product.

We all have jobs, and we don't have time to figure out how to
navigate the huge bureaucracy that is (still) IBM. But as a part
of our jobs, we all monitor this list because it is so very
valuable to us. What I and others are saying is that the
Marketing department, and whoever else is responsible for product
development, *needs* to take into account the huge installed base
of users right here in this forum. We are no less valid as IBM
customers because we use this forum to offer our ideas about
product development rather than calling our local sales rep. In
this forum we're able to have others hear our suggestions, and
have them improved upon, or even be told that there is already a
better way to do what we want.

 -- Tom

Thomas A. La Porte
DreamWorks Feature Animation
tlaporte AT anim.dreamworks DOT com

On Thu, 3 Feb 2000, Glen Hattrup wrote:

>sal Salak Juraj <sal AT KEBA.CO DOT AT>@VM.MARIST.EDU> on 02/03/2000 03:36:37 
>AM
>>If the marketing department would really
>>only be sitting and waiting for customers
>>to call for something,
>>then this department would not
>>even deserve its name.
>Trust me, they don't just sit around waiting for phone calls.  We have
>several people whose responsibility is to read the market and determine
>what the biggest items are for that point in time.  They are also open to
>receiving suggestions, which was the main gist of my letter. The marketing
>team's responsibility is to evaulate our product in light of our
>competition and then make sure that the "long-term" model strengthens our
>weaknesses and capitalizes upon our strengths.  There are many variables
>that help them make their decisions, and feedback from customers is one of
>those.
>
>>I suspect the marketeers decided
>>not to go in Linux direction, which
>>is a decision they are fully entitled to,
>>but now hide themselves behind allegedly
>>missing customers ineterest.
>Nobody is saying "we don't think Linux is strategic".  But, there are more
>important items that are being worked on first.  Any large item like a new
>server platform is a serious undertaking.  To provide the level of quality
>that is *expected* from an IBM / Tivoli product, you can't just hack
>something together and let your customers find the problems.
>
>To summarize:
>Everything has a cost.
>Development resources are not unlimited.
>We try our best.
>
>>Anyway, thanks for your mailing,
>>because it stated more or less
>>clearly what we should not count with.
>>Clearness helps us in making decisions
>>so I understand your mailing as
>>good service to all mailing list readers.
>Well, I and other developers do try to keep in contact with the customer
>base and help out when we can.  I would like to stress that correspondence
>on ADSM-L does not constitute a commitment of any sort.  These emails may
>provide you a little more clarity, but the Marketing team is the official
>source of what TSM will or will not do.  They can (and have!) change
>directions overnight and showcase a new strategy the next day.
>
>hth.
>
>Glen Hattrup
>TSM Development
>