I've got a serious political problem...

[Richard Cranium]

You got that right Tom.

Here, we spent about $2 million on TESTING a "Pilot" software to replace the one we have now.

The existing one works GREAT, but the minds at the top are adamant that keeping a 3 year old system is NOT "Going Ahead"

The ones in charge;
1. Don't use the software
2. Don't know how it works
3. Don't know what a POS the suggested replacement is.

Here at the lower level, We are Extremely Tired of Begging for them to leave it alone.

Instead of upgrading this POS WindowsNT4.0 they want to spend really big bucks for other "tracking" software so they can interface other systems into the whole ball of wax.
We try to tell them
IT'S ALREADY WORKING JUST LIKE YOU WANT !

[Knothead]

It's the Spirit of America!!

It's working? Let's FIX IT!!

Just like our political parties: The Democrats say they don't know what's wrong with this country, but they can fix it.

The Republicans say there's nothing wrong with this country, and they can fix that.

I think we're a nation of tinkerers.

[Tomteriffic]

A very similar scenario here. They've spent so much money on this POS that, of course, it's gotta be good.

The one saving grace here is that the muckety-mucks aren't just administrators, they are also "them that does", so they have to work with it too, eventually. So, I'm hopeful we'll either get something that works or the whole thing will get bailed. I hear the programmers got an earful at the last national meeting of the individual compay directors of this larger organization. Heehee

[kenyg]

Well, management often has to bring about huge change, at huge expense - whether it works or not is beside the point, Especially if its NEW upper management - they gotta figure out a way to get that ticket punched and climb the next rung.


Cadd. ethics in business is all too rare, and when you find it, most agree it's refreshing. You'll win more clients in the long run that way.


Ken

[Ed_S]

Cadd, one statement shines out in your 1st post - "and we are liable for millions if it's not!"
And later - "It's the Titanic, for sure; but when it goes down survival will be a scramble.

So IMO the big question is this - can your company survive the hit when it happens???

Because in your scenario thus far it seems to be much more of a when than an if.

Any way to limit the liability factor?

[cadetstimp]

Man! I hear ya Tom!

Finance and Execs sure know how to misspend the money and have it 'fixed' later.

Sounds like your IT guy missed the compatibility.

This ususlly happens when the salesperson says one thing...then after $$$ and licensing you get to actually work with the software and find out tech support and the support contract says the exact opposite of the salesman.

One way I combat this scenerio is to require from the sales person (aside from whatever Execs, Engineers, and Finance wants) full access to their knowledge base and the release notes to the current version. The first thing I do is read the release notes and do a search in the knowledge base for "known issue" along with any other key phrases. If the salesman is unwilling to provide this then I will not approve or support the software at all on the network. Due to my track record finance and execs are willing to back this since it is a simple request and it has saved trouble and dollars in the past.

One example of this was ONESPACE (collaborative server for Solid Designer). The salesman iterated that a powerfull server with plenty of RAM would be required and it would have to run WinNT4.0. Once I got the "test bits" and a trial license I found that it was completely java based service. Because of the java version being used I went back to salesman to point out it would not work on the P4 server he recommended because of the newer chipset vs. the java version of the service. I did mention that it would work with Win2k server since it was java but only on an older PIII chipset. During my testing I did rewrite the install routine to use a new java version for the java exec service. It seemed to run on the P4, but of coarse this would be an unsupported and a not fully tested config. Once the solution was refused the salesman did ask for my install routine.....oops! did I delete that!

Basicaly I've discovered never trust or try to techically dialog with the salesman...just get access to the kbase, release notes, or even the bits if you can!

[caddmannq]

oops! did I delete that!

HooWaHaHaHaHeeHeeHee

This parallels exactly my experience with sales staff, both internal & external.

Their motto is always "Sell something! Anything! Engineering can make it work later." But it's usually much later, and often not at all. This constant problem pretty much got me away from manufacturing businesses and into consulting.

I was really tired of being the scapegoat when a deal went sour because of "engineering problems."

As a side note: The basic problem in our situation is that the big architects have been sold on the idea of 3D modeling. The glitch is that it works, but it's too expensive and slow for one-off jobs right now. If you're Ford, and you're gonna build a million of 'em, that's one thing. But buildings are different. Each one is a prototype. Unless you're doing something really huge, repetative, or insanely complex, it's unprofitable.

[capybara]

Originally posted by flea
If you intend to bail anyway, bump up the prices so its more than worth your while strugling with thier software, theyll either bail or make you rich

flea got ity right! this is a win-win solution!