Re: Informix pipe problem and WHENEVER

In his message of 14 Jul 91, Peter Miles writes: > Informix UK said it would cost about 500-600 pounds to upgrade > to V4.0, but that we HAD to buy maintenance before we would > upgrade (over 1,000 pounds). At current exchange rates that > adds up to about $3,000. Ouch! This is certainly not the same policy that Informix US operates under. Here, if you purchase maintenance, have a bug, and a bug fix is available, you can upgrade to the newer version for postage & handling costs after requesting the upgrade from Informix. Of course, if you don't have maintenance and you're looking to "jump" to a higher version number (from v2.3 to v4.0, for example), then you might well have to pay an upgrade fee. It sounds like you're running under the 2.x series . . . ? > We don't mind paying for the 500-600 pounds for the straight > upgrade, but do not want any "maintenance". Our previous > experience of this maintenance was a complete waste of time and money. Too bad you don't have the US version of maintenance. Informix has gotten MUCH MUCH better about providing good quality maintenance support; they've been improving since 1 Feb 91 and have really gotten quite good since mid-April! Here's the kind of support we've gotten lately for our maintenance dollars: 1. Technical questions answered easily and factually; 2. Shorter telephone wait times; 3. Prompt call-backs on unresolved problems; 4. Thorough, in-depth, and rapid problem determinations; 5. Quick addition of proven bugs to the bug resolution list. I'd like to add that their engineering staff is excellent. They really have some very sharp and supportive personnel working there - a big improvement since last year. These folks are highly motivated and want to help the customer get problems fixed! We had one particularly nasty problem we couldn't get around at this site, which rendered an MIS system unusable. After their California engineering staff had done all they could, they sent a team from Washington, DC to our site (Montgomery, AL) to fix the problem! In less than one day, they had narrowed down the cause of the nasty bug, invented a workaround, and had us up and running. And all this at no additional charge beyond what we've already paid for maintenance! IS THIS SUPPORT, OR WHAT? If you think maintenance is a waste of money, think again. It has proven to be so valuable to us that we're actually giving up development dollars to ensure we've got maintenance support paid in full for the next calendar year. Bill Williams Programmer/Analyst ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ STANDARD DISCLAIMER: Any opinions offered by me are mine alone and in no way reflect the judgment or opinions of the US Air Force, Department of Defense, or United States Government. BUT THEY SHOULD! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------