【转帖】subscription service-value added features

yang686526

subscription service-value added features
regarding other's subscription service....i'm curious as to what value added features your var might provide. does your var provide any benefits beyond the normal .... the upgrades, the service packs, phone and/or onsight help, etc..
for instance, some vars sponsor 2 day seminars for a nominal fee (sort of a mini sw world).... some offer complimentary brush up courses for existing subscribers.  from others i've talked to... it seems some vars offer, what i'd consider, value added benefits over and above what is consider the standard.
thanks.  my renewal is up and i'm wondering if there's more to be had than what i'm presently getting for my yearly expenditure for subscription.
something else to think about, beyond what you're "getting" for your maintenance fee. if you decide to go off maintenance there will be fairly hefty costs to get back on. solidworks has restructured how users are penalized, for lack of a better term, when they go off subscription. essentially, the longer you're off, the more $$ you'll need to pay to get back on. there is a cap, but i don't re  
thanks for the reply jeff.
my intent is not to go off subscription-maintenance... my query is to see if different vars offer value added benefits over what other vars offer.  
switching vars, as i understand it, may be a tedious process.... but it's an option.  but my question has to do more with what other vars offer over and beyond the typical.
thanks  
my experiences with the three var's i've dealt with over the years has been varied. the very first var was the best. all my questions where answered quickly and fully. they did, in fact, provide "refreshers". they also hosted annual rollout seminars and would do onsite seminars as well. their lead ae was second to none. unfortunately, they were bought out by another, larger, var and the quality of service dropped dramatically. i'd end up talking to an ae who was out of state. they didn't remember who their customers were. when i'd call in with an issue, they'd always revert to "the script". (what video card/driver are you using, etc.). they'd do this even when i'd preface my question with "this isn't a video issue...".
the last var i worked for. i like to think that i provided a high level of customer service. i'd re  
as jeff mentioned, changing vars can be painful.  swx corporate has made a stupid decision on this one in my opinion.  i just changed vars a year ago due to a variety of reasons that i needn't go into here.  it should be my choice.  afterall, if i buy a car from one dealership and don't care for their service department i can always go to another dealer and still get service - that is my choice and i should not be penalized for it!  the vars are rewarded/penalized by the change in their revenue due to my choice.  i understand the corporate decision has a lot to do with preventing poaching/raiding each others' customers, but now it is ridiculously aggravating to change vars.  (btw, i changed because i was impressed with the new var's knowledge and dissappointed with my old var.  there is more to it than that, but ultimately i am very happy with the change.  the new var was not trying to steal me away from the old; my old var gave me reasons enough to look for another.)  swx corporate, are you listening to this?
toycept, to answer your question, the vars are there to keep you happy.  this means helping with your problems (but please try to find the answers yourself first in the excellent swx help), providing training that suits your needs (this is probably the single biggest differentiating factor between vars), and keeping you up to date.  it is not only their job to keep you happy with swx and with them, but it benefits them since you become a solid reference for them.  my var knows that as our skill level goes up we get more done and we are happy.  he also knows that we interface with a lot of people, both vendors and customers.  my vendors and customers hear and see more and more every day how powerful and easy to use swx is.  we are even making impressions with ul by sending them edrawings files.
a var that has a staff with former users (in a production environment) rather than a buch of smart folks that have been book-taught on swx will win hands-down everyday.  they better understand the issues, know that when you call with a problem you need a good answer fast, and can guide your skill development.  the book-smart kids with no production experience can quote you all kinds of things, but they are missing way too much insight.
i plan to attend sww09 in orlando in part so i can address this flawed policy from swx that makes it difficult for the customers to change their var.  i'm paying good money and want more than just sp's and upgrades.
rant mode: off  
- - -updraft
thanks for the follow up comments.
updraft, your last sentence says alot  "i'm paying good money and want more than just sp's and upgrades".
anyone else care to chime in.........
i agree with the general sentiment (and updraft's particularly) that solidworks is missing something big here.  penalizing users is stupid.  always.  but they do so by hitting users with even higher fees for stopping and then reinstating subscription services.  yet on the other side of the coin are users like me who never call for support--only need software upgrades and sps.  people like us bear the burden of support even if not using it.  and for the first time ever, i've just sat out an entire version of software (v2008) because of complications i've seen amongst the user base--and the fact that my clients/vendors have done the same--yet i've paid for that software and the support that comes with it.  the obvious question--why?
elsewhere i've given solidworks an earful over this issue.  i think they may be considering splitting var services up such that it's not an all-or-nothing deal, but maybe i'm being optimistic.  it seems piggy to everyone i've discussed this with that all subscribers must shell out ~$1,500 each year, whether the services are used or not--or face penalties of at least half that for blatantly not using the services (a crime?).  draconian, at best.
on the other side, vars that offer roll-out presentations of new software are doing their subscribers a great service.  i love going to these things, even if it means (for me) a long drive down to denver to do so.  this is often a big time-saver for me in seeing the new stuff pointed out and presented--so i don't have to spend all that time looking through the what's new pdf file just to figure out what's useful for me.  plus, with the live demonstrations, it's sort of an education as well.  good vars will also put on other gigs that can be nice in networking (such as hosting user-groups) and other forms of finding useful people/talent or software niches not previously used.
  
jeff mowry
there is a big difference between var's. our var is great, but our sister company is in another part of the country. their var can take up to 3 days to get back to them. another friend works in florida and their var is the same way. the only time they hear from him is when they need money. you cannot get a var from anywhere in the country. the var has to be approved by solidworks for your area and you must sign up with one in your area.   
bradley
solidworks pro 2008 x64, sp4.0
pdmworks workgroup, solidworks bom,
dell xps intel(r) pentium(r) d cpu
3.00 ghz, 5 gb ram, virtual memory 10240 mb,
nvidia quadro fx 3400
"if it ain't broke, you just haven't looked hard enough." fix it anyway.
well, i don't see any reason not to name names here.  vars are just other companies, middlepeople.  
hawkridge systems treats me very well.  when we transferred from one pdm to another, they supported the effort to the extent of coming in house and helping use tranfer files.  they provide free "night schools" which are one-time evening seminars for particular topics.  i get tech support immediately 75% of the time when i call, and the other 25% the response is normally within 45 minutes.  they have their own add-in set of utilities.  the have at least one capable in-house api expert.  and also experts in each of the sw applicables.
drawback is that they did get burned by 3rd party applications, so they only directly support applications that sw itself sells.  best of their expansion, some of their newer tech support staff may provide incomplete or wrong information once in awhile.  
anyone else have opinions?
matt lorono
cad engineer/ecn analyst
silicon valley, ca
i happen to have the same var as theo does, and i am happy with the service that i've gotten out of my sw alimony payments.  for the first year or so that i was a sw user they fielded a constant barrage of question from me - mostly about why sw does something one way over another.  they knew who i was when i called, and actively tried to come up with solutions to sw's old buggy ways.  they have even thrown some work my way on occasion.  however, like theo, i have only called them a handful of times in the last several years, (in fact, they call me more than i call them) and now when i do call it's usually just to have them confirm that i've found a solid bug in the software.  i do attend the roll-outs and networking meetings when my schedule permits.
i haven't really given this topic too much thought in the past because i do have a good var.  however, you can be sure that if my var was asleep on the job or just plain sucked then i'd be rattling some cages both in their office and at sw hq.  the way i see it is if i am forced to pay for a service (weather i use it or not) i expect that service to be up to my standards, especially when the fees aren't exactly low.  i like the idea of scaling the fees for the types of service that you require, but i'm certainly not going to hold my breath.
dan
dan,
my var is now the solidexperts here in florida.  our previous var served several states including fl.  i would not recommend them for anything.  our current var knows their stuff and is very well tuned in to listen for what our needs are and get us the right help/recommendations/connections.
when i changed vars i went through a royal pita with swx.  my old var threatened to "get even" with me, but all he did was reaffirm my decision.  i was on the phone with several levels of swx management regarding changing vars and even had about an hour long talk with jeff ray when he was coo.  he wrote me a nice card and in it says "i want to apologize for the way we have let you down.  you have been a faithful follower of ours for many years, and we should have been more responsive.  thank you for giving us the chance to make amends.  we will do better!"
i would like to address him at sww09 because i understand the policy about changing vars is even more restrictive now than it was a year ago.  hardly what i would call "doing better"!
here is what i want:
1. the freedom to change vars for whatever reason.  (i am willing to fill out a form stating the reasons why if that helps to prevent changes due to poaching/bribery or other nefarious reasons.)
2. not to have the new var punished for the change.  in fact, they should be rewarded for keeping a loyal and satisfied customer vs. losing one to another software company.  (i have been using swx since the initial 1995 version and even started and ran a users group for two years, but i was ready to quit swx if i would have had to stay with my old var.)  i changed last year and my old var still got the next year's fees.  the new var had to give me support for a year before he started to get the revenue.  now wtf?!
i believe in fair play and capitalism (yes, they can coexist).  subscription fees are fixed so the only thing that distinguishes one var from another is the services they provide.  i should be allowed to choose that which suits me best.  is that so unreasonable?
- - -updraft