Tab,

I think the webadmin would be sufficient for a
new admin on a new installation.  The first complaints
about the web were lack of filtering when working with nodes;
Wanda cited her 450 nodes.  I gave up on the webadmin looong ago
since I have 1,600 nodes.  But a new server would start at 0 nodes
so the problem with it wouldn't appear for a while and
maybe by then the new admin will be up to speed with other tools
and the cmdline.  So I don't think new sites are a target for
a priced admin gui.

Just my $.02,

Bill

At 02:52 PM 8/22/2002, you wrote:
>Alex,
>
>Those are the key questions, aren't they?
>
>It would all boil down to acticipated labor savings over using the
>numerous workarounds we currently employ.  For that reason, it would
>probably be more valuable to new TSM administrators.
>
>For experienced admins like myself with a set of tools currently used to
>get around the web client's limitations, a full-featured GUI would be a
>harder sell to the people who write the checks.  Here's why...
>
>I spent the better part of two days getting the ODBC link to work; then
>spent about a day creating my "GUI Spreadsheet" in Excel.  I've also spent
>quite a lot of time learning the admin commands and their parameters and
>options.  None of that effort would be recovered by my adoption of a new
>GUI now.  The only savings for me would the a little bit of time saved
>from not having to switch tools.  If I had to guess, I'd say that would be
>less than 10 minutes per day in my case.  On days with just routine stuff
>happening, it might not save me five minutes.
>
>On the other hand, if I was a new admin, having the GUI would allow me to
>avoid almost all the work cited in the previous paragraph.  It could
>easily add up to a person-week or more.  The employer would save the
>salary associated with that time as well as recovering the opportunity of
>that time.  Counting both benefits, the savings could easily reach ten to
>twenty thousand dollars.
>
>Just my two cents.
>
>Tab Trepagnier
>TSM Administrator
>Laitram Corporation
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>Alex Paschal <AlexPaschal AT FREIGHTLINER DOT COM>
>Sent by: "ADSM: Dist Stor Manager" <ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU>
>08/22/2002 12:48 PM
>Please respond to "ADSM: Dist Stor Manager"
>
>
>        To:     ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
>        cc:
>        Subject:        Re: Web Admin Interface - grrr
>
>
>What kind of market is there for a working, currently supported GUI?
>Basically, if you all banded together, could you commission somebody to
>recreate and keep up a new Admin GUI that's relevant to the current
>version
>of TSM, that doesn't have the weaknesses of the Web interface?
>
>Or maybe somebody like Lindsay Morris (who already has a development group
>familiar with TSM) can develop a Admin GUI product fairly easily?  Do you
>think there are enough GUI users who
>a) Are willing to pay for a license for this GUI?
>b) Are willing to pay some sort of maintenance cost to keep it current?
>
>Alex

----------
Bill Colwell
C. S. Draper Lab
Cambridge Ma.