Re: Informix costs

Well take any of your values and bring the exchange rate into the picture $1 = R6.58 Informix is just getting a bit out of the small medium enterprise market. Sorry to say but that is the reason why we are still running SE and 10 to 1 will be migrating to some other SQL DB when we move to a ERP system. Captain Pedantic wrote: >It depends upon the type of agreement John has. It may be an OEM support >contract, where the support contract is held directly by the ISV/VAR. The >ISV is expected to provide front-line Informix support, and the back-up >support may not be provided by IBM either (in the UK it is provided by a >distributor, OpenPSL, who offer only Mon-Fri 9-5 cover). In the OEM case >IBM consider that the support arrangement is not their concern and will not >intervene, no matter how unfair that might seem to the customer and >regardless of the damage it may do to the customer's perception of IBM. > >A Passport Advantage (PA) agreement is a support contract between the end >user and IBM, which may or may not have been sold through a reseller. IBM >takes this type of agreement very seriously and provides 24x7 cover under >it. Despite teething problems in transition of Informix products into PA, >and the general crapness of support for PA when things go wrong, as they >sometimes do, PA generally offers the end user a superior 24x7 service by >comparison with that of the old Informix Software company, since the 24x7 >cover is inclusive and, as Fernando observed, a formal discount structure >applies for bigger spenders. > >>From what he says I'd guess John has the former. Unfortunately, as can be >seen from previous cdi threads, there is very little understanding within >the user community of the distinction between the two types of agreement. >One can't help thinking that, although it has no doubt made sure that >technically and legally it is 100% in the clear, IBM could do more to help >Informix users let down over Informix support by their ISVs. > >The list PA price of a year's support for 425 users is about US$35,000 for >Workgroup or US$165,000 for enterprise. > > DISCLAIMER: The information transmitted is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any computer. sending to informix-list