Conference 7.286::digital

4171.0. "Network consulting opp at U. of Savannah (GA)??" by NETCAD::BRANAM (Steve, Hub Products Engineering, LKG2-2, DTN 226-6043) Thu Oct 05 1995 13:12

A tale of woe, unfortunately too common. Can we help at all?

My father is head of the English program at U of S, and was telling me that they
have recently given all the faculty PC's and installed a network. However,
things are not going smoothly. A couple of symptoms: when his PC arrived, there
was no monitor with it. Whether it was lost/stolen during shipment or was never
shipped, he has never found out, despite inquiries. Never fear though; since he
is listed as both undergrad and grad faculty, they gave him *two* PC's for his
office! The second arrived with all parts. No one seemed to make the great leap
that one PC would suffice for all his needs. Obviously planning is not a major
strength of this modernization initiative.

In going through the stuff he got with the second PC, he came upon an item of
software that he didn't understand. Reading the box to me over the phone, I
said, "Ah, that's not software, it's hardware [Yes, a toaster is high-tech to my
dad. Just make sure you get your grammar right!]. It's an Ethernet Network
Interface Card. You plug it into your PC and then run a cable to the building
network." That rang a bell and he replied, yes, they had just installed a
network, but nothing worked.

I asked if there was a CS department, or a network administrator, and he replied
with those dreaded words, "No, just this one guy who knows a little bit." I
asked if he knew anything about network address assignments, servers, what
vendor protocols they were using and he replied that as far as he knew, the only
thing that had been done was that PC's were handed out, the network was
"installed", and everybody was expected to fend for themselves. I have no idea
what level of "installed" they have reached. Maybe someone ran cable, maybe they
installed bridges, repeaters, and servers, who knows. But they have apparently
not assigned anyone to manage the thing. He asked if it was something I could
help with, but I told him this was not something that could be handled one time
over the phone, it is a full-time job requiring lots of detail planning and
continuous attention, especially when something fails. He said they probably
wanted to do everything without anyone having to take care of it. I told him
that was like plugging in phones everywhere but not assigning phone numbers,
having no operators or switching system, and having everyone speak a different
language when they wanted to make a call.

This is of course just his understanding from a non-technical perspective. Maybe
things are better off than this, maybe they have someone knowledgeable working
on it, but odds are this is an accurate assessment, based on past experience.
This is a small, unsophisticated school. They have spent a lot of GA state
taxpayer's money to hand out equipment willy-nilly, but no one has been given
any technical assistance. They probably have zero money budgeted for network
maintenance and admin, but maybe they could be convinced to free some up.

Is there anyone who can assist with this, or at least make an initial contact
with the school and give them a pitch? Might not pan out to anything, but it
might turn into some good business. Goodness knows they need some help.

    You might try Phil Hillhouse, Network Business Unit Sales Manager for
    one of the Territories.... He's out of Alpharetta, GA I believe.  His
    DTN is 343-5222 (Secretary is Brandy) or outside is (404)343-5222.  I'm
    sure he'd be more than willing to have someone contact your Dad. 
    Sounds like one of Digital's Core Competencies (sp...) has gone by the
    wayside here....
    
    Hope this helps...
    
    Toodles.....JPs
    

    First question is: Is there someone with money to spend on this? Your
    dad does not sound too encouraging. Maybe all the U of S wanted is to be
    able to say that "our highly efficient faculty is equipped with PC's".
    
    However, if they want it to produce something without having to tie up
    people, see if your local PC Utility Salesman is interested. Depending
    on the number of 'seats", future PC purchases and how the U. thinks
    about financial aspects of PC ownership, this service package may 
    fit the needs (and MCS would have an interest in going this route).
    
    Otherwise, the Service Menu has a number of standard Offers that would
    be of value here. Call your "local" MCS Sales office. 
    
    Personally, I would first define a time and materials project to bring what
    they have to working order before I sold a standard service package
    to keep it going. This could be "Technical Consulting" (one of the
    aforementionned Offers).
      
    Naturally: No use to being it to a working state if they don't intend
    to support and maintain it. We have a "User Application Support" Offer
    for your dad and a "Help Desk Support" Offer to support any profesional
    level staff. I believe that MCS/US can take care of the whole thing,
    including putting it "on site" and staff it. There are other Offers to
    help with network design and installation.
    
    In conclusion: Ask your dad who the guy with the money is and give the
    name to MCS. You realize we would love to do this for free, but we
    can't right now (and it does not at all sound like the U of S would be
    helped by a guy putting in some of his free time to help out).
    
    Al
    
    PS: We should hire the guy that sold this and get him to sell the
    services too.