Well the benefits of 3rd party as I see them:
1) Typically cheaper.
2) They have more reason to want to help you if their main business is
support and you're not the largest NBU installation.

As noted Datalink DOES escalate to Symantec as needed.   This isn't
really a lot different from going from level 1 to level 2 to level 3
with direct support.  In fact so far as I can tell the level 1 we have a
Datalink is more like level 2 at Symantec and they escalate directly to
level 3 so we actually save cycles.

In general however I agree with you - it is usually better to get
support from the people who made the product.   Our support for our UNIX
stuff bears this out in my mind but unfortunately I don't make those
decisions.  The downside though is those companies usually do many
things so trying to get to "the guy" that can help you is a lot like
pulling teeth.

-----Original Message-----
From: veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
[mailto:veritas-bu-bounces AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu] On Behalf Of Wayne T
Smith
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2007 12:32 PM
To: veritas-bu AT mailman.eng.auburn DOT edu
Subject: Re: [Veritas-bu] 3rd Party Support

I'm never satisfied with 3rd party support and almost never with direct!

For various reasons, we have Sun support of NBU, but expect to change 
that.  When I have a problem, I want to get to the people that will find

or write the fix asap. 3rd party almost cannot do that.  Also, from time

to time, one couldn't get various Veritas information without a 
maintenance contract.  I don't recall the specifics nor do I know if 
this persists with Symantec.

One could ask a similar question about VARs, and in this case there is 
at least a chance of there being "value added", especially if the VAR is

good with NetBackup and, say, NetApp if you are considering NetApp 
integration.

cheers, wayne

Brooks, Jason wrote, in part,  on 2007-06-22 10:27 AM:
>       I know from past conversations that some here use 3rd party
support
> for NBU.  I've just completed getting the quote for support for
renewal.
> The vendor that does the quote also offers support, but I declined
going
> with them now - too short notice.  So, in preparation for next year's
> renewal (I know I have lots of time), can we do a brief poll?
>
> Who's using 3rd party? 
> Who are you using?
> Performance vs. Symantec Support?
> Escalation working?
> Level of satisfaction with 3rd party?
>   
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