[comp.sys.hp] Installation slackness

s900387@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au (Craig Macbride) (05/26/91)

I might as well put this little story in chronological order, to make things
easiest to follow.

A part of Australia's Telecom (which owns some proportion of HP's Australian
operations) for which I am currently part of a team doing some development
work has an HP9000/822 running HP/UX 7.02. This machine is being used for
testing and developing software at present.

Our first important request to HP for support was solved. When we had another
software problem, concerning the HP implementation of NCS, we were politely
informed that we should contact a particular contractor, as he'd know better
than them!!!! This problem remains to this day, as nobody at HP here or on the
net seems to know anything about NCS.

When this project was started, our HP contact told us a software guy
would be available full-time for it. This person subsequently didn't turn up,
and we later learned he would not be available because he was giving courses.
Nobody had informed us of this, however. Rumour has it that HP then said he
could be obtained after he had finished with the courses for something like
$2000 per day.

Anyway, as the original machine has certain undesireable setup characteristics
(like a single hard disk partition), HP was asked to send someone out with the
machines which will be put into the production site to load the O/S and set
the machine up properly.

Last Thursday, the first of the new 822s appeared. It was silently delivered
to us with no comment from HP as to when/whether any support person would be
arriving.

A phone call on Friday to HP brought us the response that someone would come
out that afternoon. When the HP engineer arrived, he unpacked the machine,
loaded software onto it, and left. During the course of his stay we learned
that:
1. The machine had a single 508MB root partition.
2. The machine had no O/S tape with it, so it was impossible for it to be
re-partitioned to something approaching a sensible setup.
3. The operating system could always be loaded off the older machine's tape.
(... though it is not the same version.)
4. HP/UX verion 8 is out, but we received 7.08 on this "new" machine.

What concerns me is that HP are sending out machines with an incredibly bad
setup, when they've been explicitly asked to set the machine up properly, and
that they are sending out machines in the guise of being new, while they have
an out of date operating system installed. Scheduling of work demands that we
start work on the machine immediately, so a total reload of the operating
system, repartitioning of the disk and upgrade to version 8 will be rather
time-consuming, particularly since it will mean all our testing will have to
be done again after things get put right.

Is it normal practice overseas for HP to behave this way, or just here? Or is
it just a special contempt which HP Australia holds Telecom in as they know
they are guaranteed of sales no matter how bad their support is?

Disclaimer: I am not an employee of either Telecom or HP. I am employed by ESA,
who are in turn one of the companies being contracted by Telecom on this
project. I speak not for any of the companies concerned, just for myself and
other individuals in the project team, who are becoming more and more disgusted
with HP as time goes on.
-- 
 _--_|\		Craig Macbride	<uni: s900387@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au>
/      \			<work: craig@bacchus.esa.oz.au>
\_.--.*/
      v

jason@hpcndjdz.CND.HP.COM (Jason Zions) (05/27/91)

>4. HP/UX verion 8 is out, but we received 7.08 on this "new" machine.

HP-UX 8.0 for the Series 800 hasn't quite gone in the mail yet; at the time
the machine you received left the factory, 7.08 *was* the latest release
available.

As for the rest of it, I'm pretty surprised at what happened. Contrary to
what you suggest, HP does not hold Telecom Autralia in contempt; I don't
think anyone in the company views TA as locked-in to HP, and many of us
continue to work hard to keep them happy.

Seems a call to the local sales office and one step up the ladder is in
order.
--
This is not an official statement of The Hewlett-Packard Company. No
warranty is expressed or implied. The information included herein is not to
be construed as a committment on HP's part. The devil made me do it. This
won't save me from the lawyers' wrath, but it can't hurt.

Jason Zions			The Hewlett-Packard Company
Colorado Networks Division	3404 E. Harmony Road
Mail Stop 102			Ft. Collins, CO  80525  USA
jason@cnd.hp.com		(303) 229-3800

matt@bacchus.esa.oz (Matt Atterbury) (05/30/91)

    This is our public, official apology for the recent posting by
    Craig Macbride in comp.sys.hp concerning HP's involvement in a
    Telecom/HP project.

    ESA disassociates itself from the comments and disagrees
    completely with the criticisms made. All parties concerned are
    working very hard on the project which is progressing
    satisfactorily. 

    ESA's involvment with HP, which has been extensive, has
    demonstrated that HP has been, and is, extermely supportive and
    professional. 

    ESA is an Australian system's company that is independent of any
    hardware vendor, but have continually used HP hardware and
    recommended it to our clients because ESA believes that HP's

        i)    hardware
        ii)   support, and
        iii)  technical capabilities

    are of a world leading standard.

    No company is perfect, but it has been our experience that HP
    always strives to meet customer demands, and is always willing and
    able to meet the technical challenges of modern computer systems.

        Paul Hyland             and               Matt Atterbury
    (Managing Director)                   (Software Development Manager)


                    This IS an official ESA posting.
--
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Matt Atterbury [matt@bacchus.esa.oz.au]   Expert Solutions Australia, Melbourne
UUCP: ...!uunet!munnari!matt@bacchus.esa.oz.au            "klaatu barada nikto"
  or: ...!uunet!murtoa!bacchus.esa.oz.au!matt         "consider this a divorce"
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s900387@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au (Craig Macbride) (05/30/91)

In a period of tiredness and frustration, I posted an article which this is
a followup to. In the process of letting off steam, I wrote things which were
badly phrased and said things I shouldn't have said.

The account was simply intended as an account of a situation from one person's
perspective, posted from here as an individual, not as a representative of any
organisation. It was not intended to slander anyone, nor mis-represent anyone
nor cause any offense whatsoever. It was not intended to be taken as a blanket
derogatory comment towards either HP or Telecom. In my haste at that late hour,
I was out of line and I hope that any and all people at HP, Telecom and ESA who
may have been offended by my all too casual remarks will accept my sincere
apologies.

A news post has a life of only a week or two; For all those concerned, I can
only hope this matter dies along with the posts to which it pertains.

-- 
 _--_|\		Craig Macbride	<s900387@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au>
/      \
\_.--.*/	The above are simply my comments, not necessarily
      v		the views of any other being or organisation.