| > Our competitors can present a suite of user interfaces for info
> mgmt by a single name, and the new customer buys lotsa dollars and
> actually gets a bundle of things under that name.
>
> As a specialist in the field doing PSS consulting and supporting sales
> persons, I keep seeing our customers perceive a "fragmentation of
> products" compared to ORACLE etc..
I agree 120%.... I have also run into this in the CASE arena, while
we sell VAXSET, we still tell the customers is is CMS, MMS, DECTEST,
LSE, ect. We need to sell it as a product, say VAXCASE and that
it has a code manager module, a module manager, a test modual ect.
I am also a specialist in the field, and I hear the same things,
and competators saying, We have an integrated approach not a bunch
of tools you can use together. Even though they may have the exact
same thing, they sell better because of how the customer views the
appoach, integrated, not a thrown together system to get something
on the market, which is how RDB and VAXSET is viewed.
Sorry I got heated, FLAME OFF, I really like our products and just
wish when I was contracted out I got to use them. Right now I am
supporting a shop which runs ORACLE, SAS, and looking at integrated
approaches to CASE. WE ALREADY HAVE VAXSET, they don't view it
as an integrated approach though. I am working on this, and getting
a demo, but without the Graphics front end, I don't think I can
impress them. SET MODE COOL OFF: Anyway on the bright side, remind
prospective customers while ORACLE is selling an integrated approach
that you must pay extra for TPS (when available), SQLREP2 (when
available) and many of their other tools. The bundled report writter
stinks!!!! Just a quick not on why. To do page headings you must
keep track of the lines printed and check to see if they total the
page, just like COBOL, only the if statement that is executed EVERY
LINE, is actualy this statement "SELECT * FROM DUAL WHERE <if
statement'" This executes a database call for every line in the
report, nice huh? They are a hundred other things wrong with this
report writer also. Even Oracle trainers say Don't Use it.
Anyway ta ta. Sparky
|
| I agree about the packaging issue. How about a VAXINFO IV for
'Information management' and a VAXINFO V for 'Transaction Processing'.
I leave you to argue about what goes where.
As a brief note to other specialists out there, when you are on
a residency you can bring whatever tools you want with you. We
have made a few sales by bringing out additional tools (such as
VAXSET, DECReporter, etc.) to a site, restricting their use to Digital
people, and then demoing them to everyone nearby. Most customers
who have seen the product actually being used (as opposed to just
demoed) will usually spring for the extra bucks required.
The sale becomes even easier if you sell the whole mess as a single
package. VAXINFO is a start. Let's start changing Digital's as
well as the customers perceptions of our products!
|