The document you reference accurately describes features of IBMLink. IBMLink has a feature called SRD - Service Request and Delivery. 15-20+ years ago, back in the day when IBMLink was new, SRD was a major innovation - it allowed customers to support their environments and was the first (or second?) method available to customers to download PTFs from IBM electronically. During the subsequent decades, IBM has continued to add enhancements to SRD to add additional functions.
Unrelated to IBMLink, IBM's Software Manufacturing and software order placement areas provided a new web based ordering mechanism called ShopzSeries. SMP/E RECEIVE ORDER interacts with IBM Software Manufacturing. RECEIVE ORDER has nothing to do with IBMLink. It became apparent to me that as soon as IBM provided ShopzSeries for ordering service (earlier this decade), and even more obviously because of the more recent addition of the RECEIVE ORDER function, both of which give all customers the ability to get every PTF available for their products, there was absolutely no reason for IBMLink SRD to even exist anymore. It's probably been more than five years since I last ordered a PTF using IBMLink. Ordering PTFs is NOT the justification for IBMLink's various pricing levels. The other features - premium response for ETR, search capabilities for problems, etc., ARE the justifications for IBMLink's various pricing levels. It's absolutely your company's decision how much each of those features are worth to your enterprise. My opinion, obviously. Brian On Thu, 19 Mar 2009 12:04:47 -0500, Chase, John wrote: >Our shop is in "serious cost-cutting" mode, and toward that end we're >evaluating "downgrading" from SoftwareXcel Extended to either Basic, or >Resolve. Aside from ordering "packaged" service (RSU, etc.) via >ShopzSeries (and now RECEIVE ORDER), we've found we don't use any of the >other "Extended" features. > >This document <http://www.vm.ibm.com/service/zmatrix.pdf> is what's >causing us confusion and consternation, for it seems to imply that if we >"downgrade" from Extended (aka Enterprise Edition), we would lose our >entitlement to order "packaged" service via ShopzSeries (and by >extension, via RECEIVE ORDER), even though ShopzSeries is not mentioned >by name in that document. > >Sometimes it appears that even IBM doesn't know what IBM is talking >about. :-( > > -jc- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
