Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued - Q support replacement?

[Chuck Kreiter]

Take a look at Ed Jaffe's Share presentations about going "off the grid" for
IBM support.  

-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On
Behalf Of IBM user
Sent: Thursday, September 19, 2019 12:54 PM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: SoftwareXcel Discontinued - Q support replacement?

Is there a reasonably priced service option that will provide software Q
support, like SoftwareXcel Basic Edition once did?   Is z Systems Premier
Software Care reasonably priced?

There are threads on IBM-Main about this, but I have not seen a good answer.


The admonition to simply "RTFM" is a little over the top when many of the
manuals contain incomplete "how to" information.

Signed,
Your generic IBM User

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email
to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

SoftwareXcel Discontinued - Q support replacement?

[IBM user]

Is there a reasonably priced service option that will provide software Q 
support, like SoftwareXcel Basic Edition once did?   Is z Systems Premier 
Software Care reasonably priced?

There are threads on IBM-Main about this, but I have not seen a good answer.  

The admonition to simply "RTFM" is a little over the top when many of the 
manuals contain incomplete "how to" information.

Signed,
Your generic IBM User

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Ed Jaffe]

On 9/12/2017 10:21 PM, Timothy Sipples wrote:


Anyway, you started this thread because you were concerned about not being
able to obtain support services you want, affordably. I and others have
painstakingly pointed out that you actually have access to the support
services you want, after clarifying in a follow-up post: electronically
opening PMRs (for suspected defects), obtaining PTFs and release updates,
and searching for APARs. As far as I can tell, everything you asked for,
you get with your MLC and S We've provided the Web links already, and
multiple people confirm they work. Isn't this good news? Haven't we
addressed all your concerns now? "May we close this PMR as RESOLVED?" :-)


If you had actually read my updates, you would already know that our IBM 
support contract expires January 27, 2018 and that last week I gave the 
order that it not be renewed.


I intend to report to SHARE (and to the community at large) via the Bit 
Bucket, my experiences thereafter with attempting to obtain 
usable/convenient program support for z/OS, z/VM and z/VSE. I'll likely 
provide only a brief "Heads Up. Here's what we're doing..." in 
Sacramento and then follow up five months later in Salt Lake City with 
all of the gory details...


Feel free to watch the post-conference video(s) on YouTube if you're 
interested.


--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Timothy Sipples]

Ed Jaffe wrote:
>Timothy Sipples had indicated earlier that the primary difference
>between the unpaid and paid offerings was the existence of "how to"
>support.

Here's *exactly* what I wrote:

Timothy Sipples wrote:
>SoftwareXcel, and its successors, provide additional support services
above
>and beyond Program Services, notably including some "how-to" support.

I try to choose my words carefully, and at least on this occasion I did. I
wrote "notably including." I did not write "the primary difference." I also
did not write "SoftwareXcel Basic Edition" or "SoftwareXcel Enterprise
Edition." I wrote "SoftwareXcel."

Anyway, you started this thread because you were concerned about not being
able to obtain support services you want, affordably. I and others have
painstakingly pointed out that you actually have access to the support
services you want, after clarifying in a follow-up post: electronically
opening PMRs (for suspected defects), obtaining PTFs and release updates,
and searching for APARs. As far as I can tell, everything you asked for,
you get with your MLC and S We've provided the Web links already, and
multiple people confirm they work. Isn't this good news? Haven't we
addressed all your concerns now? "May we close this PMR as RESOLVED?" :-)


Timothy Sipples
IT Architect Executive, Industry Solutions, IBM z Systems, AP/GCG/MEA
E-Mail: sipp...@sg.ibm.com

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Paul Gilmartin]

On Tue, 12 Sep 2017 11:03:04 -0400, Peter Relson wrote:
>
>FWIW, 
>Donald Knuth had a similar offer in place for his valued tomes, in the 
>70's when I was in college. 
>He'd send a check for any error that you were the first to find. No one 
>would cash the check because we'd rather have the "badge of honor". 
>Probably made it difficult to keep the checking account balanced.
> 
Reportedly, Picasso paid for small purchases with checks whenever possible.
Many went uncashed.

Similar legends about Dali abound.

-- gil

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Ed Jaffe]

On 9/12/2017 7:57 AM, Tom Marchant wrote:



That got me scratching my head as to what the differences were.
According to this chart, they are functionally identical offerings!

except for "Electronic 'usage' Q with Severity"


Oh yes, I missed that!

Timothy Sipples had indicated earlier that the primary difference 
between the unpaid and paid offerings was the existence of "how to" 
support. Obviously, that's not the case. Those of us with "Resolve" have 
an offering identical to SoftwareXcel without the "how to" part...


--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Ed Jaffe]

On 9/12/2017 7:50 AM, Dyck, Lionel B. (TRA) wrote:

Be aware that only SoftwareXcel Basic is being discontinued - Enterprise is 
untouched (for now)


https://www.ibm.com/common/ssi/ShowDoc.wss?docURL=/common/ssi/rep_ca/8/897/ENUS917-128/index.html

According to the announcement (see link above), all four offerings are 
being withdrawn effective November 16, 2017.


o SoftwareXcel enterprise edition for zSeries (6942-77E)
o SoftwareXcel basic edition for zSeries (6942-77G)
o Alert for zSeries (6942-16D)     November 16, 2017
o Resolve for zSeries (6942-23D)     November 16, 2017

Indeed, our current offering is "Resolve for zSeries" (not Software Xcel 
Basic Edition as originally thought) and we received a letter from IBM 
indicating our support contract was being terminated at its next 
anniversary.


--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Peter Relson]

>Again, Barry Merrill shows he is one smart guy.

FWIW, 
Donald Knuth had a similar offer in place for his valued tomes, in the 
70's when I was in college. 
He'd send a check for any error that you were the first to find. No one 
would cash the check because we'd rather have the "badge of honor". 
Probably made it difficult to keep the checking account balanced.

Peter Relson
z/OS Core Technology Design


--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Tom Marchant]

On Tue, 12 Sep 2017 07:47:52 -0700, Ed Jaffe wrote:

>On 9/12/2017 6:46 AM, Tom Marchant wrote:
>> http://www.vm.ibm.com/service/zmatrix.pdf
>
>Awesome reference, Tom! 

It was about the third hit in a duckduckgo search for softwarexcel.

>I was informed just yesterday that we have S/390
>Resolve rather than SoftwareXcel Basic.
>
>That got me scratching my head as to what the differences were.
>According to this chart, they are functionally identical offerings!

except for "Electronic 'usage' Q with Severity"

-- 
Tom Marchant

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Dyck, Lionel B. (TRA)]

Be aware that only SoftwareXcel Basic is being discontinued - Enterprise is 
untouched (for now)

--
Lionel B. Dyck 
Mainframe Systems Programmer - TRA

-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of Ed Jaffe
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2017 9:48 AM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

On 9/12/2017 6:46 AM, Tom Marchant wrote:
> http://www.vm.ibm.com/service/zmatrix.pdf

Awesome reference, Tom! I was informed just yesterday that we have S/390 
Resolve rather than SoftwareXcel Basic.

That got me scratching my head as to what the differences were. 
According to this chart, they are functionally identical offerings!

Probably one was offered to "Big Iron" customers and the other to "Little Iron" 
customers or something like that. We pay for just a single seat.

In a few months we'll be "free wheeling" without a service subscription of any 
kind. That should be ... ahem... interesting...

--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to 
lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Ed Jaffe]

On 9/12/2017 6:46 AM, Tom Marchant wrote:

http://www.vm.ibm.com/service/zmatrix.pdf


Awesome reference, Tom! I was informed just yesterday that we have S/390 
Resolve rather than SoftwareXcel Basic.


That got me scratching my head as to what the differences were. 
According to this chart, they are functionally identical offerings!


Probably one was offered to "Big Iron" customers and the other to 
"Little Iron" customers or something like that. We pay for just a single 
seat.


In a few months we'll be "free wheeling" without a service subscription 
of any kind. That should be ... ahem... interesting...


--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Jousma, David]

I *thought* SoftwareXcel got you the ability to open Q PMR's, and Premium 
response on non-sev1 PMR's.   Am I incorrect?  I've used both, especially Q 
for how to questions.  I've sparingly used Premium response for non-sev1 
problems that I needed(or wanted) service on immediately.

_
Dave Jousma
Manager Mainframe Engineering, Assistant Vice President
david.jou...@53.com
1830 East Paris, Grand Rapids, MI  49546 MD RSCB2H
p 616.653.8429
f 616.653.2717


-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of Dana Mitchell
Sent: Tuesday, September 12, 2017 9:18 AM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

**CAUTION EXTERNAL EMAIL**

**DO NOT open attachments or click on links from unknown senders or unexpected 
emails**

On Mon, 11 Sep 2017 12:51:38 -0400, Tom Conley <pinnc...@rochester.rr.com> 
wrote:
>
>FWIW,
>
>I signed on to my IBM id with the Jack-Squat service offering, and it 
>brought up an SR.  Did not fill it out, so no idea what would happen
>
>Regards,
>Tom Conley
>

I can confirm that it does indeed work,  http://www.ibm.com/support   to open a 
new SR and manage existing ones.  I have been doing it that way for years for 
IBM i and z problems with no softwarexcel.

Dana

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to 
lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN **CAUTION EXTERNAL 
EMAIL**

**DO NOT open attachments or click on links from unknown senders or unexpected 
emails**

This e-mail transmission contains information that is confidential and may be 
privileged.   It is intended only for the addressee(s) named above. If you 
receive this e-mail in error, please do not read, copy or disseminate it in any 
manner. If you are not the intended recipient, any disclosure, copying, 
distribution or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. Please 
reply to the message immediately by informing the sender that the message was 
misdirected. After replying, please erase it from your computer system. Your 
assistance in correcting this error is appreciated.


--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Tom Marchant]

http://www.vm.ibm.com/service/zmatrix.pdf

-- 
Tom Marchant

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Dana Mitchell]

On Mon, 11 Sep 2017 12:51:38 -0400, Tom Conley  
wrote:
>
>FWIW,
>
>I signed on to my IBM id with the Jack-Squat service offering, and it
>brought up an SR.  Did not fill it out, so no idea what would happen
>
>Regards,
>Tom Conley
>

I can confirm that it does indeed work,  http://www.ibm.com/support   to open a 
new SR and manage existing ones.  I have been doing it that way for years for 
IBM i and z problems with no softwarexcel.

Dana

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Timothy Sipples]

John Eells:
>You can certainly order products for Internet delivery via Shopz, and
>have been able to for some time.  However, whenever there is a new
>product number, which happens on a version boundary, I believe you will
>need to get a new license even when the costs are identical.

I think we can phrase your last sentence in a clearer way. I'd say it this
way

If you have Monthly License Charge (MLC) or Subscription and Support (S),
when you order a new product version on Shopz then IBM fulfills that order
at no additional charge, per IBM Multi-Version Measurement (MVM) terms:

https://www.ibm.com/systems/z/resources/swprice/mvm.html

I can't think of any reason why you have to worry about this backend
fulfillment/licensing distinction any more, with one exception: if you have
a licensed product with S *and* if you've let your S lapse.

Anyway, MVM makes life simpler, and thank goodness. "Just do it."


Timothy Sipples
IT Architect Executive, Industry Solutions, IBM z Systems, AP/GCG/MEA
E-Mail: sipp...@sg.ibm.com

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[John Eells]

Jesse 1 Robinson wrote:

We have ordered product upgrades 'forever' via Shopz. Sometimes the order gets 
diverted to the 'Order Desk' for approval, especially (but not exclusively, I 
believe) for a new version. Eventually it gets straightened out. Is there 
another preferred way to order upgrades?




Not that I know of.


--
John Eells
IBM Poughkeepsie
ee...@us.ibm.com

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

SHARE Bit Bucket (Was: SoftwareXcel Discontinued)

[Ed Jaffe]

On 9/11/2017 11:41 AM, Pommier, Rex wrote:

Ed,

Hopefully you'll also share it with us poor folks who don't make it to Share!!

Rex


No worries, Rex. These things are almost always published on YouTube 
within just a week or so of the conference. For example, from Providence:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNSKKcxGwk8=youtu.be

https://share.confex.com/data/handout/share/129/Session_20844_handout_10972_0.pdf

--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Barry Merrill]

What a NICE thing to say!!

Barry Merrill

-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of Nightwatch RenBand
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2017 12:28 PM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

Again, Barry Merrill shows he is one smart guy.
Few things made me happier than finding a bug in MXG code and seeing my name 
credited for it.  It amazes me that more software companies do not follow his 
model. For the price of a T-shirt, or a few lines on a web page, they could 
have people falling all over themselves to find, report and fix bugs.

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to 
lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Jesse 1 Robinson]

We have ordered product upgrades 'forever' via Shopz. Sometimes the order gets 
diverted to the 'Order Desk' for approval, especially (but not exclusively, I 
believe) for a new version. Eventually it gets straightened out. Is there 
another preferred way to order upgrades?

.
.
J.O.Skip Robinson
Southern California Edison Company
Electric Dragon Team Paddler 
SHARE MVS Program Co-Manager
323-715-0595 Mobile
626-543-6132 Office ⇐=== NEW
robin...@sce.com


-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of John Eells
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2017 10:56 AM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: (External):Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

Timothy Sipples wrote:

> ShopZ is available at no additional charge for electronic PTF and new 
> release/update deliveries. Electronic delivery is the preferred option.

This is true, but we recommend you use RECEIVE ORDER instead, and even that you 
automate it via scheduled batch so you have up to date PTFs and HOLDDATA on 
hand.

> (Earlier this year IBM eliminated the Single Version Charge (SVC) 
> limitation, in favor of Multi-Version Measurement (MVM). In short, 
> that means you should electronically order new versions and releases. 
> You shouldn't even have to think about it.)


You can certainly order products for Internet delivery via Shopz, and have been 
able to for some time.  However, whenever there is a new product number, which 
happens on a version boundary, I believe you will need to get a new license 
even when the costs are identical.  This, too, has been true for some time.  In 
the USA, at least, new version orders are intercepted by TechLine for licensing.

--
John Eells
IBM Poughkeepsie
ee...@us.ibm.com


--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Pommier, Rex]

FWIW, I told Mainline on Saturday that we would *not* be renewing our 
SoftwareXcel contract (it expires January 27). I want first-hand 
experience tryna get support for z/OS, z/VSE and z/VM without a 
SoftwareXcel/Software Care entitlement. (My technical contact over there 
said he would be "lost without IBMLink." Haha! We'll see if I am too!)

I already know what it's like having SoftwareXcel for 30 years, so I 
should be in a good position to observe if there are significant "gaps" 
in what we get for free vs the paid subscription.

No matter the outcome, it's gonna make a *great* SHARE Bit Bucket 
segment

-- 
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/



Ed, 

Hopefully you'll also share it with us poor folks who don't make it to Share!!  

Rex

The information contained in this message is confidential, protected from 
disclosure and may be legally privileged.  If the reader of this message is not 
the intended recipient or an employee or agent responsible for delivering this 
message to the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, 
distribution, copying, or any action taken or action omitted in reliance on it, 
is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful.  If you have received this 
communication in error, please notify us immediately by replying to this 
message and destroy the material in its entirety, whether in electronic or hard 
copy format.  Thank you.


--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[John Eells]

Timothy Sipples wrote:


ShopZ is available at no additional charge for electronic PTF and new
release/update deliveries. Electronic delivery is the preferred option.


This is true, but we recommend you use RECEIVE ORDER instead, and even 
that you automate it via scheduled batch so you have up to date PTFs and 
HOLDDATA on hand.



(Earlier this year IBM eliminated the Single Version Charge (SVC)
limitation, in favor of Multi-Version Measurement (MVM). In short, that
means you should electronically order new versions and releases. You
shouldn't even have to think about it.)



You can certainly order products for Internet delivery via Shopz, and 
have been able to for some time.  However, whenever there is a new 
product number, which happens on a version boundary, I believe you will 
need to get a new license even when the costs are identical.  This, too, 
has been true for some time.  In the USA, at least, new version orders 
are intercepted by TechLine for licensing.


--
John Eells
IBM Poughkeepsie
ee...@us.ibm.com

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Ed Jaffe]

On 9/11/2017 10:28 AM, Nightwatch RenBand wrote:

Again, Barry Merrill shows he is one smart guy.
Few things made me happier than finding a bug in MXG code and seeing my
name credited for it.  It amazes me that more software companies do not
follow his model. For the price of a T-shirt, or a few lines on a web page,
they could have people falling all over themselves to find, report and fix
bugs.


Dave Cole also does bug/feature attribution in the z/XDC service stream.

--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: [EXTERNAL] Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Dyck, Lionel B. (TRA)]

This is what I got back from IBM when I asked for details - not much:

Thank you for reaching out to IBM regarding your SoftwareXcel services.  The 
generally available (GA) date for pricing of the new SoftwareXcel offerings 
will be 11/16/17.   IBM will be extending the current SoftwareXcel Basic 
offering for one year for any contract term ending before 02/15/18.  


--
Lionel B. Dyck 
Mainframe Systems Programmer - TRA


-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of Ed Jaffe
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2017 12:24 PM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

On 9/11/2017 9:51 AM, Tom Conley wrote:
>
> I signed on to my IBM id with the Jack-Squat service offering, and it 
> brought up an SR.  Did not fill it out, so no idea what would happen

FWIW, I told Mainline on Saturday that we would *not* be renewing our 
SoftwareXcel contract (it expires January 27). I want first-hand experience 
tryna get support for z/OS, z/VSE and z/VM without a SoftwareXcel/Software Care 
entitlement. (My technical contact over there said he would be "lost without 
IBMLink." Haha! We'll see if I am too!)

I already know what it's like having SoftwareXcel for 30 years, so I should be 
in a good position to observe if there are significant "gaps" 
in what we get for free vs the paid subscription.

No matter the outcome, it's gonna make a *great* SHARE Bit Bucket segment

--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to 
lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Jesse 1 Robinson]

Hmm. Sounds suspiciously like open source. ;-)

.
.
J.O.Skip Robinson
Southern California Edison Company
Electric Dragon Team Paddler 
SHARE MVS Program Co-Manager
323-715-0595 Mobile
626-543-6132 Office ⇐=== NEW
robin...@sce.com


-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of Nightwatch RenBand
Sent: Monday, September 11, 2017 10:28 AM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: (External):Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

Again, Barry Merrill shows he is one smart guy.
Few things made me happier than finding a bug in MXG code and seeing my name 
credited for it.  It amazes me that more software companies do not follow his 
model. For the price of a T-shirt, or a few lines on a web page, they could 
have people falling all over themselves to find, report and fix bugs.


--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Nightwatch RenBand]

Again, Barry Merrill shows he is one smart guy.
Few things made me happier than finding a bug in MXG code and seeing my
name credited for it.  It amazes me that more software companies do not
follow his model. For the price of a T-shirt, or a few lines on a web page,
they could have people falling all over themselves to find, report and fix
bugs.

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Ed Jaffe]

On 9/11/2017 9:51 AM, Tom Conley wrote:


I signed on to my IBM id with the Jack-Squat service offering, and it 
brought up an SR.  Did not fill it out, so no idea what would happen


FWIW, I told Mainline on Saturday that we would *not* be renewing our 
SoftwareXcel contract (it expires January 27). I want first-hand 
experience tryna get support for z/OS, z/VSE and z/VM without a 
SoftwareXcel/Software Care entitlement. (My technical contact over there 
said he would be "lost without IBMLink." Haha! We'll see if I am too!)


I already know what it's like having SoftwareXcel for 30 years, so I 
should be in a good position to observe if there are significant "gaps" 
in what we get for free vs the paid subscription.


No matter the outcome, it's gonna make a *great* SHARE Bit Bucket 
segment


--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Tom Conley]

On 9/11/2017 8:18 AM, Tom Marchant wrote:

On Sat, 9 Sep 2017 18:33:23 +0800, Timothy Sipples wrote:


You wrote that it's important to be able to report bugs. IBM agrees.
SoftwareXcel has never been required to open PMRs by telephone (or fax), to
my knowledge. Moreover, you should be able to open PMRs electronically (if
you prefer) from this Web page, also at no additional charge:

https://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest/


It's not a convincing test since I have to log in with my IBM ID in order to
access it. That's the same ID that I use to log in to SoftwareXcel.



FWIW,

I signed on to my IBM id with the Jack-Squat service offering, and it 
brought up an SR.  Did not fill it out, so no idea what would happen


Regards,
Tom Conley

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Tom Marchant]

On Sat, 9 Sep 2017 18:33:23 +0800, Timothy Sipples wrote:

>You wrote that it's important to be able to report bugs. IBM agrees.
>SoftwareXcel has never been required to open PMRs by telephone (or fax), to
>my knowledge. Moreover, you should be able to open PMRs electronically (if
>you prefer) from this Web page, also at no additional charge:
>
>https://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest/

It's not a convincing test since I have to log in with my IBM ID in order to 
access it. That's the same ID that I use to log in to SoftwareXcel.

-- 
Tom Marchant

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Timothy Sipples]

I should have mentioned that SMP/E Internet Software Retrieval (for SMP/E
installed products) and Fix Central (for non SMP/E installed products) are
also included with your MLC and S at no additional charge. They are paths
to obtain electronic delivery of PTFs and service updates from IBM.


Timothy Sipples
IT Architect Executive, Industry Solutions, IBM z Systems, AP/GCG/MEA
E-Mail: sipp...@sg.ibm.com

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Jackson, Rob]

I am told, perhaps by a VAR, or not, that you can go ahead and sign a contract 
for five years or so on your current SoftwareXcel level--and grandfather 
yourself in.  That is what we are trying to do.  Perhaps if everyone does the 
same, IBM will forget about the whole thing.  I really doubt any of the current 
management will be there in five years.  There's not a one of the "upper level" 
that has any outlook beyond a quarter, much less the dedication to what WAS, 
heartbreakingly, one of the best organizations ever.

-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of Ed Jaffe
Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2017 11:56 AM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[External Email]

On 9/9/2017 7:00 AM, Jesse 1 Robinson wrote:
> That link indeed takes me to what appears to be the standard Service Request 
> page--although a slightly different URL. Without actually submitting an SR I 
> can't tell for sure if it would work. But more to the point, we currently 
> subscribe to SoftwareXcel. Someone who does not subscribe would need to 
> traverse the same path to check out the viability.

I'd like to try it too, but like you I worry there will be entitlement issues 
without a SoftwareXcel contract in effect.

Perhaps when our SoftwareXcel contract comes up for renewal (January I think), 
we will just let it lapse and try these techniques for a while.
(I enjoy experimentation...)

Sure would be great if we could get out from under IBM thumb on this (hopefully 
now historical) requirement to pay for the privilege of electronically 
reporting and tracking IBM bugs.

If it works, it will make a great Bit Bucket segment for Sacramento or Salt 
Lake City! :-)

If it fails, it will make a great Bit Bucket segment for Sacramento or Salt 
Lake City! :-D

--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to 
lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
FIRST TENNESSEE

Confidentiality notice: 
This e-mail message, including any attachments, may contain legally privileged 
and/or confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient(s), or 
the employee or agent responsible for delivery of this message to the intended 
recipient(s), you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or 
copying of this e-mail message is strictly prohibited. If you have received 
this message in error, please immediately notify the sender and delete this 
e-mail message from your computer.


--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Ed Jaffe]

On 9/9/2017 7:00 AM, Jesse 1 Robinson wrote:

That link indeed takes me to what appears to be the standard Service Request 
page--although a slightly different URL. Without actually submitting an SR I 
can't tell for sure if it would work. But more to the point, we currently 
subscribe to SoftwareXcel. Someone who does not subscribe would need to 
traverse the same path to check out the viability.


I'd like to try it too, but like you I worry there will be entitlement 
issues without a SoftwareXcel contract in effect.


Perhaps when our SoftwareXcel contract comes up for renewal (January I 
think), we will just let it lapse and try these techniques for a while. 
(I enjoy experimentation...)


Sure would be great if we could get out from under IBM thumb on this 
(hopefully now historical) requirement to pay for the privilege of 
electronically reporting and tracking IBM bugs.


If it works, it will make a great Bit Bucket segment for Sacramento or 
Salt Lake City! :-)


If it fails, it will make a great Bit Bucket segment for Sacramento or 
Salt Lake City! :-D


--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Jesse 1 Robinson]

That link indeed takes me to what appears to be the standard Service Request 
page--although a slightly different URL. Without actually submitting an SR I 
can't tell for sure if it would work. But more to the point, we currently 
subscribe to SoftwareXcel. Someone who does not subscribe would need to 
traverse the same path to check out the viability.  

.
.
J.O.Skip Robinson
Southern California Edison Company
Electric Dragon Team Paddler 
SHARE MVS Program Co-Manager
323-715-0595 Mobile
626-543-6132 Office ⇐=== NEW
robin...@sce.com


-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of Timothy Sipples
Sent: Saturday, September 09, 2017 3:33 AM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: (External):Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

Ed Jaffe wrote:
>We're a small shop. We *really* don't want to be paying thousands every 
>month just for the "privilege" of being able to report bugs with, and 
>get fixes for, our non-Linux mainframe software. (IMHO such support 
>ought to be included free as part of MLC and S payments, but that's a 
>discussion for another day...)

Ed Jaffe then wrote:
>It used to be that if you didn't have at least SoftwareXcel Basic 
>Edition, you could not logon to IBMLink to search for fixes, you could 
>not open PMRs electronically (you had L1 voice only), and you could not 
>download PTFs electronically (you had tape only).

You wrote that it's important to be able to report bugs. IBM agrees.
SoftwareXcel has never been required to open PMRs by telephone (or fax), to my 
knowledge. Moreover, you should be able to open PMRs electronically (if you 
prefer) from this Web page, also at no additional charge:

https://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest/

Click on the "New service request" button to get started. Please give it a try, 
stopping short of actual submission if you don't have a real PMR, and please 
correct me if I'm mistaken. It's working for me, though. Moreover, in some 
countries it's possible to open PMRs via e-mail. (I don't recommend e-mail, 
though, especially for higher severity issues, since you can't easily check 
whether and when IBM received your e-mail. But it's available in some 
countries, with that understanding.)

ShopZ is available at no additional charge for electronic PTF and new 
release/update deliveries. Electronic delivery is the preferred option.
(Earlier this year IBM eliminated the Single Version Charge (SVC) limitation, 
in favor of Multi-Version Measurement (MVM). In short, that means you should 
electronically order new versions and releases. You shouldn't even have to 
think about it.)

You can search for APARs here:

https://www.ibm.com/support/customercare/psearch/search?domain=gapar

This search interface ("Granular APAR Search for Z") was first introduced in 
2014.

Have I ticked all your newly presented boxes? If I haven't, OK, please have a 
chat with "your friendly IBM representative."


Timothy Sipples
IT Architect Executive, Industry Solutions, IBM z Systems, AP/GCG/MEA
E-Mail: sipp...@sg.ibm.com


--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Timothy Sipples]

Ed Jaffe wrote:
>We're a small shop. We *really* don't want to be paying thousands every
>month just for the "privilege" of being able to report bugs with, and
>get fixes for, our non-Linux mainframe software. (IMHO such support
>ought to be included free as part of MLC and S payments, but that's a
>discussion for another day...)

Ed Jaffe then wrote:
>It used to be that if you didn't have at least SoftwareXcel Basic
>Edition, you could not logon to IBMLink to search for fixes, you could
>not open PMRs electronically (you had L1 voice only), and you could not
>download PTFs electronically (you had tape only).

You wrote that it's important to be able to report bugs. IBM agrees.
SoftwareXcel has never been required to open PMRs by telephone (or fax), to
my knowledge. Moreover, you should be able to open PMRs electronically (if
you prefer) from this Web page, also at no additional charge:

https://www.ibm.com/support/servicerequest/

Click on the "New service request" button to get started. Please give it a
try, stopping short of actual submission if you don't have a real PMR, and
please correct me if I'm mistaken. It's working for me, though. Moreover,
in some countries it's possible to open PMRs via e-mail. (I don't recommend
e-mail, though, especially for higher severity issues, since you can't
easily check whether and when IBM received your e-mail. But it's available
in some countries, with that understanding.)

ShopZ is available at no additional charge for electronic PTF and new
release/update deliveries. Electronic delivery is the preferred option.
(Earlier this year IBM eliminated the Single Version Charge (SVC)
limitation, in favor of Multi-Version Measurement (MVM). In short, that
means you should electronically order new versions and releases. You
shouldn't even have to think about it.)

You can search for APARs here:

https://www.ibm.com/support/customercare/psearch/search?domain=gapar

This search interface ("Granular APAR Search for Z") was first introduced
in 2014.

Have I ticked all your newly presented boxes? If I haven't, OK, please have
a chat with "your friendly IBM representative."


Timothy Sipples
IT Architect Executive, Industry Solutions, IBM z Systems, AP/GCG/MEA
E-Mail: sipp...@sg.ibm.com

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Charles Mills]

To me it boggles the mind that a company would charge extra for Web-based 
support as opposed to voice-based support. Most software companies, if 
anything, use the opposite approach.

Charles


-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of Ed Jaffe
Sent: Friday, September 8, 2017 8:17 AM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

On 9/8/2017 12:12 AM, Timothy Sipples wrote:
> SoftwareXcel, and its successors, provide additional support services 
> above and beyond Program Services, notably including some "how-to" support.

It used to be that if you didn't have at least SoftwareXcel Basic Edition, you 
could not logon to IBMLink to search for fixes, you could not open PMRs 
electronically (you had L1 voice only), and you could not download PTFs 
electronically (you had tape only).

Are you saying that I can now search for fixes, open PMRs electronically, and 
download PTFs electronically without paying for SoftwareXcel Basic Edition? 
Please elaborate!

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Edward Gould]

> On Sep 8, 2017, at 1:17 PM, Ed Jaffe  wrote:
> 
>> We've had the extended version for so long that I can't remember life 
>> without it. What I do remember is that several years back, our software 
>> license folks 'forgot' to pay the SoftwareXcel bill. We were suddenly unable 
>> to report problems via ServiceLink. It got straightened out in a few days, 
>> but it was jarring to go unsupported.
> 
> You weren't unsupported. (Just ask Timothy Sipples.) But, you probably had L1 
> voice support via 1-800-IBM-SERV only.
> 
> If you needed a fix, I'm not sure how they would send it to you these days. 
> Years ago it was tape only without SoftwareXcel. Yuck!

Ed,

Don’t you remember the dialup connection the systems had with Boulder?
*MANY* a time I dowloaded apars from Boulder. It wasn’t fun but more 
interesting that you had the power of the cpu’s and you were limited to 600 
baud.

Ed
> 
> -- 


--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Edward Gould]

> On Sep 8, 2017, at 1:01 PM, Jesse 1 Robinson  wrote:
> 
> We've had the extended version for so long that I can't remember life without 
> it. What I do remember is that several years back, our software license folks 
> 'forgot' to pay the SoftwareXcel bill. We were suddenly unable to report 
> problems via ServiceLink. It got straightened out in a few days, but it was 
> jarring to go unsupported. 
> 
> And yes, we have periodically used the Q service, though we could probably 
> get along without that. It's nice to be able to report a 'problem' without 
> knowing in advance whether it's a defect in the product or a defect in our 
> understanding. 
> 
> I don't know the boundaries between basic and extended.
Jesse,

About 25 years ago, we were in the middle of purchase an IBM system. We had 
some questions on it (mostly operational).
We asked our so called IBM-Rep to find out the answers. He told us, we would 
have to sign a $25K service contract to get the answers. I looked at him and 
said if we have to pay IBM for simple questions, we will go elsewhere. I called 
up a friend at IBM and he was happy to supply the answers and suggested some 
other issues we should look at. I told him the next time he was in town, dinner 
was on me. Total cost to the company was $73 and it was deductible. We never 
asked IBM another question. We also went to 3rd party suppliers for disk/tape 
etc. I just used my black book of friends and the total cost of the was $25 for 
a bottle of wine. I made sure our IBM rep know where we went for questions that 
IBM should have been happy to answer, we went elsewhere. I also made sure that 
we severed all ties to IBM after that except for maintenance of software. We 
turned our backs on IBM. That is what short-sightedness of IBM has brought on.

Ed
> 
> .
> .
> J.O.Skip Robinson
> Southern California Edison Company
> Electric Dragon Team Paddler 
> SHARE MVS Program Co-Manager
> 323-715-0595 Mobile
> 626-543-6132 Office ⇐=== NEW
> robin...@sce.com 

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Ed Jaffe]

On 9/8/2017 11:01 AM, Jesse 1 Robinson wrote:

We've had the extended version for so long that I can't remember life without 
it. What I do remember is that several years back, our software license folks 
'forgot' to pay the SoftwareXcel bill. We were suddenly unable to report 
problems via ServiceLink. It got straightened out in a few days, but it was 
jarring to go unsupported.


You weren't unsupported. (Just ask Timothy Sipples.) But, you probably 
had L1 voice support via 1-800-IBM-SERV only.


If you needed a fix, I'm not sure how they would send it to you these 
days. Years ago it was tape only without SoftwareXcel. Yuck!


--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Jesse 1 Robinson]

We've had the extended version for so long that I can't remember life without 
it. What I do remember is that several years back, our software license folks 
'forgot' to pay the SoftwareXcel bill. We were suddenly unable to report 
problems via ServiceLink. It got straightened out in a few days, but it was 
jarring to go unsupported. 

And yes, we have periodically used the Q service, though we could probably 
get along without that. It's nice to be able to report a 'problem' without 
knowing in advance whether it's a defect in the product or a defect in our 
understanding. 

I don't know the boundaries between basic and extended.

.
.
J.O.Skip Robinson
Southern California Edison Company
Electric Dragon Team Paddler 
SHARE MVS Program Co-Manager
323-715-0595 Mobile
626-543-6132 Office ⇐=== NEW
robin...@sce.com


-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of Ed Jaffe
Sent: Friday, September 08, 2017 8:17 AM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: (External):Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

On 9/8/2017 12:12 AM, Timothy Sipples wrote:
> SoftwareXcel, and its successors, provide additional support services 
> above and beyond Program Services, notably including some "how-to" support.

It used to be that if you didn't have at least SoftwareXcel Basic Edition, you 
could not logon to IBMLink to search for fixes, you could not open PMRs 
electronically (you had L1 voice only), and you could not download PTFs 
electronically (you had tape only).

Are you saying that I can now search for fixes, open PMRs electronically, and 
download PTFs electronically without paying for SoftwareXcel Basic Edition? 
Please elaborate!

Haha! Never in my life have I asked anything resembling a "how to" 
question via a support channel. I don't think that's even possible with 
SoftwareXcel Basic Edition! LOL

--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/


--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Rugen, Len]

If I have to ask how-to, isn't it a DOC apar?  :-O


-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of Ed Jaffe
Sent: Friday, September 8, 2017 10:17 AM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

On 9/8/2017 12:12 AM, Timothy Sipples wrote:
> SoftwareXcel, and its successors, provide additional support services 
> above and beyond Program Services, notably including some "how-to" support.

It used to be that if you didn't have at least SoftwareXcel Basic Edition, you 
could not logon to IBMLink to search for fixes, you could not open PMRs 
electronically (you had L1 voice only), and you could not download PTFs 
electronically (you had tape only).

Are you saying that I can now search for fixes, open PMRs electronically, and 
download PTFs electronically without paying for SoftwareXcel Basic Edition? 
Please elaborate!

Haha! Never in my life have I asked anything resembling a "how to" 
question via a support channel. I don't think that's even possible with 
SoftwareXcel Basic Edition! LOL

--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to 
lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Ed Jaffe]

On 9/8/2017 12:12 AM, Timothy Sipples wrote:

SoftwareXcel, and its successors, provide additional support services above
and beyond Program Services, notably including some "how-to" support.


It used to be that if you didn't have at least SoftwareXcel Basic 
Edition, you could not logon to IBMLink to search for fixes, you could 
not open PMRs electronically (you had L1 voice only), and you could not 
download PTFs electronically (you had tape only).


Are you saying that I can now search for fixes, open PMRs 
electronically, and download PTFs electronically without paying for 
SoftwareXcel Basic Edition? Please elaborate!


Haha! Never in my life have I asked anything resembling a "how to" 
question via a support channel. I don't think that's even possible with 
SoftwareXcel Basic Edition! LOL


--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Barry Merrill]

I did that in my three day class, initially handing a 1980 dollar bill for
each typo 
found in my foils, and after a couple of years handing a 5'er for the last
few.

And I could argue that   http://www.mxg.com/codesharks   page is "paying"
customers
who find bugs.

Merrilly yours,

Barry


Merrilly yours,

 Herbert W. Barry Merrill, PhD
 President-Programmer
 Merrill Consultants
 MXG Software
 10717 Cromwell Drive  technical questions: supp...@mxg.com
 Dallas, TX 75229
 http://www.mxg.comadmin questions: ad...@mxg.com
 tel: 214 351 1966
 fax: 214 350 3694




-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On
Behalf Of Edward Gould
Sent: Thursday, September 7, 2017 8:02 PM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

> On Sep 7, 2017, at 3:08 PM, Jim Mulder <d10j...@us.ibm.com> wrote:
> 
> With regard  to only the last sentence in Gord's comments, those of us 
> in z/OS development who put the bugs into the software don't have 
> anything to do with the IBM offerings for reporting bugs and
> obtaining fixes for the bugs.   So that does not play any part in 
> our decisions about how many bugs to include in the software.   :-)
> 
> Jim Mulder z/OS Diagnosis, Design, Development, Test  IBM Corp. 
> Poughkeepsie NY

Jim,

So IBM admits to having bugs in their software? Then you should be paying
the customer to find them for IBM.

Ed


--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email
to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Timothy Sipples]

Ed Jaffe wrote:
>We're a small shop. We *really* don't want to be paying thousands every
>month just for the "privilege" of being able to report bugs with, and
>get fixes for, our non-Linux mainframe software. (IMHO such support
>ought to be included free as part of MLC and S payments, but that's a
>discussion for another day...)

I agree. So does IBM.

Your mainframe Monthly License Charges (MLC) and Subscription and Support
(S) include IBM Program Services at no additional charge. See here for
details:

https://www.ibm.com/support/customercare/sas/f/handbook/offerings.html
#section2

Quoting IBM, "Program Services is a support element of some IBM products
that allows you to report suspected IBM defects to IBM" I like how IBM
clarifies that suspected (and actual) *non-IBM* defects aren't part of the
deal. Speak with your therapist about those other defects. :-)

SoftwareXcel, and its successors, provide additional support services above
and beyond Program Services, notably including some "how-to" support.


Timothy Sipples
IT Architect Executive, Industry Solutions, IBM z Systems, AP/GCG/MEA
E-Mail: sipp...@sg.ibm.com

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Jesse 1 Robinson]

Some time back SHARE folks got wind that IBM was scoring APARs as defects 
against owning organizations and dinging them accordingly. As customers we took 
great umbrage at that judgement, arguing with IBM management that APAR 
fixes--PTFs--serve to improve the product. Especially PTFs installed as 
preventative maintenance. 

It's hard to know what actual impact we had, but we delivered the message loud 
and clear and seemed to get a sympathetic ear from the IBM managers who attend 
SHARE expressly to find out what customers think.

.
.
J.O.Skip Robinson
Southern California Edison Company
Electric Dragon Team Paddler 
SHARE MVS Program Co-Manager
323-715-0595 Mobile
626-543-6132 Office ⇐=== NEW
robin...@sce.com


-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of Paul Gilmartin
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2017 7:36 PM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: (External):Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

On Fri, 8 Sep 2017 10:22:38 +1000, Andrew Rowley wrote:
>
>The bigger problem is when an organization views customer problem 
>reports as something to be minimized (as opposed to actual problems).
> 
That's what I call "the Microsoft QA metric": the MTB calls to support.
I discovered this years ago when I emailed a colleague a JCL snippet containing 
such as:
//  BLKSIZE=6144
... and he replied, "WTF 'BLKSIZEa44'?"  He had, foolishly IMO, configured Word 
as his MS Exchange viewer.  I surmise MSW ignored my MIME header,
"Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit"; did a Bayesian analysis of the content; and 
presumed Quoted-printable.  They get fewer service calls by assuming the MIME 
headers are wrong than by honoring them.

Likewise an HP PostScript printer failed my text document that contained a 
quoted sample of PostScript code: Bayesian analysis said "PostScript", but the 
PostScript was invalid.

DWIM is too often a misapplication of Postel's Robustness Principle.

I need barely mention browsers' attempts to cover up HTML misconceptions such 
as .

-- gil


--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Paul Gilmartin]

On Fri, 8 Sep 2017 10:22:38 +1000, Andrew Rowley wrote:
>
>The bigger problem is when an organization views customer problem
>reports as something to be minimized (as opposed to actual problems).
> 
That's what I call "the Microsoft QA metric": the MTB calls to support.
I discovered this years ago when I emailed a colleague a JCL snippet
containing such as:
//  BLKSIZE=6144
... and he replied, "WTF 'BLKSIZEa44'?"  He had, foolishly IMO, configured
Word as his MS Exchange viewer.  I surmise MSW ignored my MIME header,
"Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit"; did a Bayesian analysis of the content;
and presumed Quoted-printable.  They get fewer service calls by assuming
the MIME headers are wrong than by honoring them.

Likewise an HP PostScript printer failed my text document that contained
a quoted sample of PostScript code: Bayesian analysis said "PostScript",
but the PostScript was invalid.

DWIM is too often a misapplication of Postel's Robustness Principle.

I need barely mention browsers' attempts to cover up HTML misconceptions
such as .

-- gil

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Bill Johnson]

They don't build them using 6 sigma. It would put most dealers out of business.


Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone


On Thursday, September 7, 2017, 9:03 PM, Gibney, Dave <gib...@wsu.edu> wrote:

Auto "Makers" try to avoid shipping defective cars. Recalls can be expensive. 

> -Original Message-
> From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU]
> On Behalf Of Bill Johnson
> Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2017 5:58 PM
> To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Subject: Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued
> 
> Auto dealers make tons of money fixing defective cars. All software
> companies charge for bug fixes. Some just hide it in the initial cost of the
> software.
> 
> 
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
> 
> 
> On Thursday, September 7, 2017, 7:04 PM, Paul Gilmartin
> <000433f07816-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> wrote:
> 
> On Thu, 7 Sep 2017 18:16:34 -0400, Tom Conley wrote:
> 
> >On 9/7/2017 4:07 PM, Jim Mulder wrote:
> >>  With regard  to only the last sentence in Gord's comments,  those of
> >>us in z/OS development who put the bugs into the software  don't have
> >>anything to do with the IBM offerings for reporting bugs and
> >>obtaining fixes for the bugs.  So that does not play any part in  our
> >>decisions about how many bugs to include in the software.  :-)
> >>
> >> Jim Mulder z/OS Diagnosis, Design, Development, Test  IBM Corp.
> >> Poughkeepsie NY
> >
> >Laugh it up, furball.
> >
> That cynicism will predictably be aroused by any organization that accounts
> defect support as a profit center.  (I have no evidence that IBM does so.)
> 
> -- gil
> 
> --
> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to
> lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
> 
> 
> 
> --
> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to
> lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN




--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Edward Gould]

> On Sep 7, 2017, at 8:03 PM, Gibney, Dave  wrote:
> 
> Auto "Makers" try to avoid shipping defective cars. Recalls can be expensive. 


I wonder if IBM would accept a box of tapes with Z/os in it?
What would be funnier is to not attach postage and make IBM pay for it.

Ed
--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Edward Gould]

> On Sep 7, 2017, at 3:08 PM, Jim Mulder  wrote:
> 
> With regard  to only the last sentence in Gord's comments, 
> those of us in z/OS development who put the bugs into the software
> don't have anything to do with the IBM offerings for reporting bugs and
> obtaining fixes for the bugs.   So that does not play any part in 
> our decisions about how many bugs to include in the software.   :-)
> 
> Jim Mulder z/OS Diagnosis, Design, Development, Test  IBM Corp. 
> Poughkeepsie NY

Jim,

So IBM admits to having bugs in their software? Then you should be paying the 
customer to find them for IBM.

Ed


--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Gibney, Dave]

Auto "Makers" try to avoid shipping defective cars. Recalls can be expensive. 

> -Original Message-
> From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU]
> On Behalf Of Bill Johnson
> Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2017 5:58 PM
> To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Subject: Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued
> 
> Auto dealers make tons of money fixing defective cars. All software
> companies charge for bug fixes. Some just hide it in the initial cost of the
> software.
> 
> 
> Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone
> 
> 
> On Thursday, September 7, 2017, 7:04 PM, Paul Gilmartin
> <000433f07816-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> wrote:
> 
> On Thu, 7 Sep 2017 18:16:34 -0400, Tom Conley wrote:
> 
> >On 9/7/2017 4:07 PM, Jim Mulder wrote:
> >>  With regard  to only the last sentence in Gord's comments,  those of
> >>us in z/OS development who put the bugs into the software  don't have
> >>anything to do with the IBM offerings for reporting bugs and
> >>obtaining fixes for the bugs.  So that does not play any part in  our
> >>decisions about how many bugs to include in the software.  :-)
> >>
> >> Jim Mulder z/OS Diagnosis, Design, Development, Test  IBM Corp.
> >> Poughkeepsie NY
> >
> >Laugh it up, furball.
> >
> That cynicism will predictably be aroused by any organization that accounts
> defect support as a profit center.  (I have no evidence that IBM does so.)
> 
> -- gil
> 
> --
> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to
> lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
> 
> 
> 
> --
> For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to
> lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Bill Johnson]

Auto dealers make tons of money fixing defective cars. All software companies 
charge for bug fixes. Some just hide it in the initial cost of the software.


Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone


On Thursday, September 7, 2017, 7:04 PM, Paul Gilmartin 
<000433f07816-dmarc-requ...@listserv.ua.edu> wrote:

On Thu, 7 Sep 2017 18:16:34 -0400, Tom Conley wrote:

>On 9/7/2017 4:07 PM, Jim Mulder wrote:
>>  With regard  to only the last sentence in Gord's comments,
>> those of us in z/OS development who put the bugs into the software
>> don't have anything to do with the IBM offerings for reporting bugs and
>> obtaining fixes for the bugs.  So that does not play any part in
>> our decisions about how many bugs to include in the software.  :-)
>>
>> Jim Mulder z/OS Diagnosis, Design, Development, Test  IBM Corp.
>> Poughkeepsie NY
>
>Laugh it up, furball.
> 
That cynicism will predictably be aroused by any organization that accounts
defect support as a profit center.  (I have no evidence that IBM does so.)

-- gil

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN



--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Andrew Rowley]

On 8/09/2017 9:55 AM, Paul Gilmartin wrote:


Development management, often impelled by schedules imposed by
Marketing, is apt to view defect response as competing for development
resource and, in defense, nurture those gatekeepers.

Other forms of QA also impact on development schedules. But I have no 
disagreement with the operation of L1 support etc. in principle. The 
problem is when they deny the existence of a problem and/or close 
problems prematurely to meet resolution targets. The greater the 
separation of L1 support from the developers, the less interest L1 
support have in improving the actual product.


The bigger problem is when an organization views customer problem 
reports as something to be minimized (as opposed to actual problems).


I am aware that problems get prioritized amongst a long list of other 
problems and features. If a problem is recorded and assigned a priority 
of "if we run out of other things to do" that's OK - at least someone 
has noted that it exists.


--
Andrew Rowley
Black Hill Software
+61 413 302 386

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Paul Gilmartin]

On Fri, 8 Sep 2017 09:16:06 +1000, Andrew Rowley wrote:
>>
>As a vendor, I greatly appreciate customers who take the time to report
>bugs. It helps improve the software and helps me do my job. I suspect
>that most of the developers at IBM feel the same way.
>
>However, there are parts of IBM that view problem reports as a nuisance.
>They work very hard to close them before the developers see them. I
>suspect IBM developers don't realize how much time and effort it takes a
>customer to get a problem report past these gatekeepers before they see it.
> 
Development management, often impelled by schedules imposed by
Marketing, is apt to view defect response as competing for development
resource and, in defense, nurture those gatekeepers.

A suitably small organization can afford neither separation of developlent
and maintenance nor gatekeepers.

--gil

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Steve Thompson]

Jim:

Now come on, fess up. When put that code there that way, it was 
for an undocumented feature.


Some undocumented features work better than others, but still...



Regards,
Steve Thompson

On 09/07/2017 04:08 PM, Jim Mulder wrote:

  With regard  to only the last sentence in Gord's comments,
those of us in z/OS development who put the bugs into the software
don't have anything to do with the IBM offerings for reporting bugs and
obtaining fixes for the bugs.   So that does not play any part in
our decisions about how many bugs to include in the software.   :-)
  
Jim Mulder z/OS Diagnosis, Design, Development, Test  IBM Corp.

Poughkeepsie NY



--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Andrew Rowley]

On 8/09/2017 5:02 AM, Gord Tomlin wrote:


Charging for the privilege of reporting bugs, and obtaining fixes for 
the bugs, puts the incentives for the charging vendor in the wrong 
place. It reduces the net cost to the vendor of handling defects, and 
transfers part of the financial impact of bugs from the vendor to the 
customers. It could be viewed as reducing the vendor's incentive to 
develop relatively bug-free software.


As a vendor, I greatly appreciate customers who take the time to report 
bugs. It helps improve the software and helps me do my job. I suspect 
that most of the developers at IBM feel the same way.


However, there are parts of IBM that view problem reports as a nuisance. 
They work very hard to close them before the developers see them. I 
suspect IBM developers don't realize how much time and effort it takes a 
customer to get a problem report past these gatekeepers before they see it.


--
Andrew Rowley
Black Hill Software
+61 413 302 386

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Paul Gilmartin]

On Thu, 7 Sep 2017 18:16:34 -0400, Tom Conley wrote:

>On 9/7/2017 4:07 PM, Jim Mulder wrote:
>>   With regard  to only the last sentence in Gord's comments,
>> those of us in z/OS development who put the bugs into the software
>> don't have anything to do with the IBM offerings for reporting bugs and
>> obtaining fixes for the bugs.   So that does not play any part in
>> our decisions about how many bugs to include in the software.   :-)
>>
>> Jim Mulder z/OS Diagnosis, Design, Development, Test  IBM Corp.
>> Poughkeepsie NY
>
>Laugh it up, furball.
> 
That cynicism will predictably be aroused by any organization that accounts
defect support as a profit center.  (I have no evidence that IBM does so.)

-- gil

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Lizette Koehler]

I think that this is awesome. I get to go Easter egg hunts (Bug hunts) for fun 
and giggles.

Thank you IBM very much

Lizette


> -Original Message-
> From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On
> Behalf Of Tom Conley
> Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2017 3:17 PM
> To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Subject: Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued
> 
> On 9/7/2017 4:07 PM, Jim Mulder wrote:
> >   With regard  to only the last sentence in Gord's comments, those of
> > us in z/OS development who put the bugs into the software don't have
> > anything to do with the IBM offerings for reporting bugs and
> > obtaining fixes for the bugs.   So that does not play any part in
> > our decisions about how many bugs to include in the software.   :-)
> >
> > Jim Mulder z/OS Diagnosis, Design, Development, Test  IBM Corp.
> > Poughkeepsie NY
> >
> 
> Laugh it up, furball.
> 

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Tom Conley]

On 9/7/2017 4:07 PM, Jim Mulder wrote:

  With regard  to only the last sentence in Gord's comments,
those of us in z/OS development who put the bugs into the software
don't have anything to do with the IBM offerings for reporting bugs and
obtaining fixes for the bugs.   So that does not play any part in
our decisions about how many bugs to include in the software.   :-)
  
Jim Mulder z/OS Diagnosis, Design, Development, Test  IBM Corp.

Poughkeepsie NY



Laugh it up, furball.

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Gord Tomlin]

On 2017-09-07 16:08, Jim Mulder wrote:

With regard  to only the last sentence in Gord's comments,
those of us in z/OS development who put the bugs into the software
don't have anything to do with the IBM offerings for reporting bugs and
obtaining fixes for the bugs.   So that does not play any part in
our decisions about how many bugs to include in the software.:-)


Glad you picked up on the tongue in cheek! In real life, willfully being 
buggy would soon be followed by unwillingly being out of business.


--

Regards, Gord Tomlin
Action Software International
(a division of Mazda Computer Corporation)
Tel: (905) 470-7113, Fax: (905) 470-6507

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Jesse 1 Robinson]

I for one am grateful the bugs IBM inserts. If not for them, I would not have a 
job.  ;-))

.
.
J.O.Skip Robinson
Southern California Edison Company
Electric Dragon Team Paddler 
SHARE MVS Program Co-Manager
323-715-0595 Mobile
626-543-6132 Office ⇐=== NEW
robin...@sce.com


-Original Message-
From: IBM Mainframe Discussion List [mailto:IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU] On Behalf 
Of Jim Mulder
Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2017 1:09 PM
To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
Subject: (External):Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

 With regard  to only the last sentence in Gord's comments, those of us in z/OS 
development who put the bugs into the software don't have anything to do with 
the IBM offerings for reporting bugs and
obtaining fixes for the bugs.   So that does not play any part in 
our decisions about how many bugs to include in the software.   :-)
 
Jim Mulder z/OS Diagnosis, Design, Development, Test  IBM Corp. 
Poughkeepsie NY

> From: Gord Tomlin <gt.ibm.li...@actionsoftware.com>
> To: IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU
> Date: 09/07/2017 03:58 PM
> Subject: Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued Sent by: IBM Mainframe 
> Discussion List <IBM-MAIN@LISTSERV.UA.EDU>
> 
> On 2017-09-07 12:07, Ed Jaffe wrote:
> > We're a small shop. We *really* don't want to be paying thousands
every 
> > month just for the "privilege" of being able to report bugs with, 
> > and get fixes for, our non-Linux mainframe software. (IMHO such 
> > support ought to be included free as part of MLC and S payments, 
> > but that's
a 
> > discussion for another day...)
> 
> This is as good a day as any...
> 
> Charging for the privilege of reporting bugs, and obtaining fixes for 
> the bugs, puts the incentives for the charging vendor in the wrong 
> place. It reduces the net cost to the vendor of handling defects, and 
> transfers part of the financial impact of bugs from the vendor to the 
> customers. It could be viewed as reducing the vendor's incentive to 
> develop relatively bug-free software.
> 
> --
> 
> Regards, Gord Tomlin
> Action Software International
> (a division of Mazda Computer Corporation)
> Tel: (905) 470-7113, Fax: (905) 470-6507


--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

Re: SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Gord Tomlin]

On 2017-09-07 12:07, Ed Jaffe wrote:
We're a small shop. We *really* don't want to be paying thousands every 
month just for the "privilege" of being able to report bugs with, and 
get fixes for, our non-Linux mainframe software. (IMHO such support 
ought to be included free as part of MLC and S payments, but that's a 
discussion for another day...)


This is as good a day as any...

Charging for the privilege of reporting bugs, and obtaining fixes for 
the bugs, puts the incentives for the charging vendor in the wrong 
place. It reduces the net cost to the vendor of handling defects, and 
transfers part of the financial impact of bugs from the vendor to the 
customers. It could be viewed as reducing the vendor's incentive to 
develop relatively bug-free software.


--

Regards, Gord Tomlin
Action Software International
(a division of Mazda Computer Corporation)
Tel: (905) 470-7113, Fax: (905) 470-6507

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN

SoftwareXcel Discontinued

[Ed Jaffe]

On Aug 8, 2017 IBM announced they are withdrawing the following offerings:

SoftwareXcel Basic Edition (6942-77G)
SoftwareXcel Enterprise Edition (6942-77E)
Alert for zSeries (6942-16D)
Resolve for zSeries (6942-23D)

replacing them with:

z Systems Premier Software Care (6950-07W)
z Systems Premier Software Care - Alert and Resolve (6948-53Z)

We use SoftwareXcel Basic Edition today and our contract is up for 
renewal at the end of the year.


What scares me is IBM won't even tell us how much "z Systems Premier 
Software Care" will cost. That fear is fueled by the observation that 
the same replacement offering applies to both existing SoftwareXcel 
Basic Edition and Enterprise Edition customers! Yikes!!!


We're a small shop. We *really* don't want to be paying thousands every 
month just for the "privilege" of being able to report bugs with, and 
get fixes for, our non-Linux mainframe software. (IMHO such support 
ought to be included free as part of MLC and S payments, but that's a 
discussion for another day...) Currently, SoftwareXcel Basic is ~$300/mo 
per userid. We have only one...


Bracing for impact (not unlike some Floridians I know)...

--
Phoenix Software International
Edward E. Jaffe
831 Parkview Drive North
El Segundo, CA 90245
http://www.phoenixsoftware.com/

--
For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions,
send email to lists...@listserv.ua.edu with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN