From: edward@locutus.dell.com (Edward Godwin)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.sysv386
Subject: DELL CORPORATE CONTRIBUTION
Date: 24 Jul 92 20:21:50 GMT
Organization: Dell Computer Corporation


	This posting is submitted by a Dell employee empowered by Dell to deal 
with the 'net in an official support position.  This posting is a departmental
response to this issue, and has been reviewed by management.  This posting is 
intended to clearly state the official Dell support policies which are at 
issue.  It does not attempt to apologize for, nor ameliorate Donn Baumgartner's
original post in any way.

Donn has stated that he was expressing his personal opinion, as is normal
on the net for individuals from other companies; without any permission or
authority to act for Dell Computer Corporation.  Donn is a programmer in the 
UNIX Development team and has no influence on the policies or practices of 
Dell support.  His opinions were certainly based on privileged information, 
but he is not in a position to implement them.  Several posters have 
asserted that Mr. Baumgartner's mailings suggest something about Dell's 
commitment to quality support.  This is not the case. His initial postings 
were obviously intended to be helpful, but have recently degenerated.
We believe, from discussions with him, that he will be less active on the 
net in the future.  

	UNIX is an open system.  Without the input, interaction, and work 
of the people who populate USENETr; UNIX would soon stagnate.  UNIX owes its 
present form to intense individual pressures exerted by anyone who works 
extensively in the area.  To call for the dismissal of someone based on 
his personal stated opinions seems vindictive and counterproductive.  
This would seem to conflict with the "open systems" philosophy in which 
we all enjoy participating. 

	Two things happened that affected the time involved in solving Mr. 
Brown's problem.  First, one of the UNIX Technicians volunteered to write a 
program to solve the problem.  This delayed his escalation of the problem to 
Second Line Support.  This was a noble gesture on the part of the First Line 
Tech, but a little beyond his duties.  Steps have been taken to clarify the 
scope of the First Line group to help alleviate this.  Second, there was a 
breakdown in communications between First and Second Lines, causing Mr. Brown 
to receive no status calls on his problem.  This issue has already been solved.
	
	To those of you who still doubt Dell's commitment to superior
support for it's customers, please note these facts:


		1. The call logs indicate that Dell loaned an entire
		tape subsystem to Mr. Brown to help him solve a problem.
		We routinely take similar actions for other customers, also.

		2. Upon the original report of the printer problem,
		A patch was sent via overnight mail in an attempt
		to correct.  This type of effort is typical.

		3. Due to a misunderstanding with sales, Mr. Brown did not get
		the exact hardware solution he needed for his application.
		Dell is building a new machine with greater video 
		capabilities, at LESS COST, to solve the problem. 
		Mr. Brown still gets the use of the original machine while
		the new one is being built.

                4. Many of the problems of escalation from first to second 
                line stem from the recent doubling of UNIX support staff,
                and the consequent confusion as their new skills are integrated
                with our support and service environment.


	Dell expends a tremendous amount of effort to support its UNIX
product via several media.  Most support contact is via telephone.  Support
is also provided via fax, email, and sometimes USENET.  The main emphasis on
support is to the telephone, and email media.  We provide "800" numbers,
and dedicated email addresses specifically for this reason.  

	Dell is committed to superior service and support.  We are proud of 
our record of service and support in the PC industry and have no intention
of letting this record be eclipsed.  Operating system software is complex; 
when combined with huge aftermarket of products, it is almost impossible to 
keep track of all the combinations of product offerings.  Where the problem 
involves equipment purchased from Dell, we can provide very rapid responses.  
When third party products are involved, even if the issue is immediately 
escalated to second line for investigation, the delay may be considerable 
as equipment or accessories needed to replicate the problem may not be 
readily available within the organization.

	Internal discussion at Dell is resulting in a decision that we
must be less active on the 'net, though we will continue to monitor 
news groups and may make individual mail responses.  We believe that
this is, on the balance, detrimental to UNIX and the 'net; but can find no 
acceptable compromise in the current climate.  We also predict that
we will now be castigated for our "creeping corporatitis" :-).  
Eventually, 'net pressure will decide; should Dell participate on the 'net 
as individual contributors, or as corporate automatons whose every word is 
intended as official corporate policy?

	If anyone would like to discuss this, or any other subject further, 
I can be contacted at the email addresses and phone number listed below.  
Any mail specifically for me should have my name in the subject line.  I 
hope that this will help everyone draw more complete conclusions from this 
thread.

_______________________________________________________________________________
Edward Godwin                                     Dell Computer Corporation 
support@dell.com                                     UNIX Product Support 
1-800-624-9896 x.6915                                 FAX (512)338-8780
_______________________________________________________________________________
Newsgroups: comp.unix.sysv386