At 05:57 PM 3/14/01 -0600, Brent Michalski wrote:
>>If I need something done, and the choice is between using
>>Open Source, free-of-charge, fix-the-bugs-yourself $TOOL1 and proprietary,
>>closed source, $TOOL2 with a yearly support contract of $5000, I most
>>likely suggest to boss to go for $TOOL2, because THAT IS CHEAPER. [1]
>
>We also had a huge support contract - that is how we were "privileged"
>enough to actually talk to real live Microsoft people. However, support
>contract or not - they chose not to fix it.
I have participated in more than one project which bought a COTS tool for
$50k, then spent $400k+ on consulting, integration, and tech support from
the vendor to try and get it to perform capabilities which were believed to
be out-of-the box functionality. Most support contracts don't guarantee
anything other than a prompt answer.
--
Peter Scott
Pacific Systems Design Technologies
