They should be driven by customer service, just that simple. And in this
context the customers are the support people trying to download updates.
That process should be as simple as possible; if they think  people want
to 'browse' ibm sites, they are goofey

>>> wfitzger AT MHC DOT NET 08/27/03 02:10PM >>>
I agree.
With the old Tivoli site I could find anything I needed in a few
minutes, no log ins, no dead links, no fuss, no mess, no junk.

I don't want to have to go through all the sales material to find what
I need.

I don't want to have to search through a hundred database entries to
find what client I need to load on a given platform and more hoops to
download the client I need.

And if you call them on the phone and tell them that you need
information they will tell you that it is on the website. If you try to
explain that you cant find it on the website, you are given a URL to
make comments about the site



>>> acit AT ATTGLOBAL DOT NET 08/27/03 02:55AM >>>
Mark,

I really do not know how to interpret your comment. Does it mean we
shouldn't complain and must be happy with current IBM junk on the site
just because their major competitors are worse??? In our rapidly
changing
world, this may quickly approve a new leader coming from nowhere.

One TSM selling mantra is saying that NetBackup is still leading but
TSM
growth is better and TSM is eating NetBackup's market share. What if
IBM
becomes in that same situation - to lose market because they lost the
connection to the reality!! It will hit them where it really hurts -
the
big bucks. A TSM entusiast will make his way out of IBM site's jungle
but
an ordinary admin at a company will have no time to waste. Recently I
have
done what a *prospective* customer would do - check for TSM supported
devices without using password. It was a real nightmare - I've spent
half
hour digging to find a way through the links and hit about ten times
the
lock and login.

The site is having bad ergonomics, it is slow, overloaded, ugly,
stinks,
etc. I can find too many ways to express my frustration.
In short-term I can benefit from the situation, providing paid support
to
our customers for nearly everything. But in long-term the customers
will
rush away and both we and IBM will lose.

Zlatko Krastev
IT Consultant






"Stapleton, Mark" <stapleto AT BERBEE DOT COM>
Sent by: "ADSM: Dist Stor Manager" <ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU>
27.08.2003 07:05
Please respond to "ADSM: Dist Stor Manager"


        To:     ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
        cc:
        Subject:        Re: IBM is not eating their own dog food


From: Jolliff, Dale [mailto:xjolliff AT TI DOT COM]
>Obviously not, they lost the $$$ types with the licensing
>shuffles and now the techie types with the abysmal support site.

LOL!

Have you ever been to the Veritas site? the Legato one? How about
ArcServe, or BrightStore?

--
Mark Stapleton (mark.stapleton AT berbee DOT com)
Berbee Information Networks
Office 262.521.5627