Pieter, I think your post hits the right problem. I don't think 8-hour sessions themselves are the problem. It's the scheduling times, which are convinient only if you live on the East Coast. Everywhere else (barring +/- 8 hour offset) they don't. I think we could benefit by shifting the sessions around just a little bit.
Whad would make it work for you? Also, have in mind that we need to make sure to support 3 time-zones well: PST, EST, CET and to some extend, BST (British Standard Time). -- Marko Milivojevic - CCIE #18427 Senior Technical Instructor - IPexpert YES! We include 400 hours of REAL rack time with our Blended Learning Solution! Mailto: [email protected] Telephone: +1.810.326.1444 Fax: +1.810.454.0130 Web: http://www.ipexpert.com/ On Mon, Jul 19, 2010 at 14:26, Pieter-Jan Nefkens < [email protected]> wrote: > HI All, > > I think the 8 hour labs are great. although because of the time zones, the > 8 hours are just a bit off to "normal" workhours. > > It's either from 6am to 2PM or from 2 PM until 10PM (and of course the > night shift) for me. So, if there would be four hour lab slots, I might > actually go from 10 am until 2 PM, so that I can do some customer stuff in > the morning, have 12 hours, which leaves me enough time to prep the lab, do > my lab and evaluate afterwards. > > I understand the arguments about cost / support impact /etc.. But what if > you would, as Jimmy suggests, give a discount if you book a 8 hour + 4 hour > slot and make the 4 hour slot a bit more expensive. I mean, if the 8 hour > slot is $40, then a single four our slot for $30 would not be a problem for > me, if the 8 + 4 would be $60 (40 + 20).. > > Another idea is to split the 8 hour labs a bit more logically for europe as > well. for example the same as now applies in the us timezone: > 00:00 - 8:00 CEST, 8:00 - 16:00 CEST, 16:00 - 0:00 CEST > > My guess is, as IP expert is becoming international, that introducing four > hour slots will reduce the support load on the "change" levels and flatten > it a bit out. > > Just out of curiousity, has IPExpert also considered to setup racks in > Europe as well, as sometimes the latency to the US is really kicking in and > thus increasing my type-errors, as I type faster than the latency is coming > back in.. ;-) > > Kind regards > Pieter-Jan > > > > On 19 jul 2010, at 16:18, Tyson Scott wrote: > > Jimmy, > > Unfortunately doing it without set scheduling is unrealistic. I know it > would work great for others but it would never work for us. > > Regards, > > Tyson Scott - CCIE #13513 R&S, Security, and SP > Managing Partner / Sr. Instructor - IPexpert, Inc. > Mailto: [email protected] > Telephone: +1.810.326.1444, ext. 208 > Live Assistance, Please visit: www.ipexpert.com/chat > eFax: +1.810.454.0130 > > IPexpert is a premier provider of Self-Study Workbooks, Video on Demand, > Audio Tools, Online Hardware Rental and Classroom Training for the Cisco > CCIE (R&S, Voice, Security & Service Provider) certification(s) with > training locations throughout the United States, Europe, South Asia and > Australia. Be sure to visit our online communities at > www.ipexpert.com/communities and our public website at www.ipexpert.com > > *From:* Jimmy Larsson [mailto:[email protected]] > *Sent:* Monday, July 19, 2010 10:13 AM > *To:* Wayne Lawson > *Cc:* Tyson Scott; [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [OSL | CCIE_Security] IPexpert racks for 4 or 5 hours > > My .25: > > If the cost would be equal for 4 and 8 hours there´s simply no benefit. On > the other hand, as a customer I expect to pay half the price for 4h as for > 8h and we´ve seen indications that it would be more expensive than that do > buy 4h. > > So, if 8h cost $40, roughly in what range would it be for 4? > > To extend the logic seen earlier in this thread. I´ve lately been buying > double sessions (16h). As I see it there would also be a discount for doing > this since it would load the support slightly less and all other arguments > Tyson wrote. > > As I can see it the biggest change needed to support any of this is to > implement a token-system which enables customers to more granular pay for > smaller time slots (per hour?). > > The coolest thing for me as a customer would be if I was able to buy > whichever amount of adjacent hours as needed. If the system has a free pod, > why can´t I just be able to book from 2am to 5am, and then another session > from 5pm to 11pm? > > If you consider rewriting your scheduling backend, please do it so that > we dont have to care about time slots. > > /Jimmy > > 2010/7/19 Wayne Lawson <[email protected]> > So - to sum up Tyson's email - we're still weighing the pros and cons. Of > course, the sales team wants 4-hour sessions - but support doesn't....we're > not sure our clients are willing to absorb the cost. > > Thoughts? > > Regards, > > Wayne A. Lawson II - CCIE #5244 (R&S) > Founder, President & CEO - IPexpert, Inc., Proctor Labs, Inc. & Platinum > Solutions Group, LLC. > Mailto: [email protected] > Telephone: +1.810.334.1564 > eFax: +1.810.454.0244 > > ::Message sent from iPhone:: > > IPexpert & Proctor Labs are premier providers of Self-Study Workbooks, > Video on Demand, Audio Tools, Online Hardware Rental and Classroom Training > for the Cisco CCIE (R&S, Voice, Security & Service Provider) > certification(s) with training locations throughout the United States, > Europe, South Asia and Australia. Be sure to visit our online communities at > www.ipexpert.com/communities and our public website at www.ipexpert.com > or www.proctorlabs.com. > > Platinum Solutions Group (PSG) provides high-end consulting services with a > primary emphasis on Cisco's Data Center Solutions, Service Provider > Solutions, Unified Communications and Security-enabled infrastructures. Be > sure to visit www.platinumsolutionsgroup.com. > > On Jul 19, 2010, at 9:22 AM, "Tyson Scott" <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Not to be a downer but there are some serious things that have to change. > There are logistical problems we need to work thru like having the support > personnel to support the additional sessions. At the beginning and end of > each session is the most difficult time for our support staff, so we > basically have to go to a 24x7 support model to do this. Which will be a > big cost for us (It will triple our support costs which will probably mean > we would have to raise our proctorlabs prices). Complete redesign of the > website backend structure. We have to change how we schedule sessions, not > just changing from 4 hours to 8 hours but some major logistical changes that > makes 4 hours realistic. Although we have hoped to have it happen right > away I think it is going to be a ways out, (I am not trying to be a downer > just realistic), so don't wait around for this to happen thinking it is > going to be soon. > > > > I want to be frank with you guys so that you don't have expectations that > lead to frustration. > > > > Regards, > > > > Tyson Scott - CCIE #13513 R&S, Security, and SP > > Managing Partner / Sr. Instructor - IPexpert, Inc. > > Mailto: [email protected] > > Telephone: +1.810.326.1444, ext. 208 > > Live Assistance, Please visit: www.ipexpert.com/chat > > eFax: +1.810.454.0130 > > > > IPexpert is a premier provider of Self-Study Workbooks, Video on Demand, > Audio Tools, Online Hardware Rental and Classroom Training for the Cisco > CCIE (R&S, Voice, Security & Service Provider) certification(s) with > training locations throughout the United States, Europe, South Asia and > Australia. Be sure to visit our online communities at > www.ipexpert.com/communities and our public website at www.ipexpert.com > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Johan Bornman > > Sent: Sunday, July 18, 2010 11:55 AM > > To: 'Marko Milivojevic' > > Cc: [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [OSL | CCIE_Security] IPexpert racks for 4 or 5 hours > > > > Good news. > > > > -----Original Message----- > > From: Marko Milivojevic [mailto:[email protected]] > > Sent: 18 July 2010 04:42 PM > > To: Johan Bornman > > Cc: Kingsley Charles; [email protected] > > Subject: Re: [OSL | CCIE_Security] IPexpert racks for 4 or 5 hours > > > > Hello, > > > > This is in the works. It requires drastic changes to our backend systems, > but our development team is working on that and several other things. > > > > I can't say the date, but it's happening soon. > > > > -- > > Marko Milivojevic - CCIE #18427 > > Senior Technical Instructor - IPexpert > > > > YES! We include 400 hours of REAL rack > > time with our Blended Learning Solution! > > > > Mailto: [email protected] > > Telephone: +1.810.326.1444 > > Fax: +1.810.454.0130 > > Web: http://www.ipexpert.com/ > > > > On Sun, Jul 18, 2010 at 09:20, Johan Bornman <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I agree. > >> > >> > >> > >> I have only 2 sessions scheduled in the week (starting at 14H00) but > >> have to cancel at least 1 because of work. Over the weekend I have 4 > >> scheduled to make up for “lost time”. > >> > >> > >> > >> If there is a 4 hour slot available, which will fit in nicely with > >> this current slots (8 hours/2), I will probably have a session every > >> day. The benefit to students and also Proctorlabs is obvious. > >> > >> > >> > >> From: [email protected] > >> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of > >> Kingsley Charles > >> Sent: 18 July 2010 10:59 AM > >> To: [email protected] > >> Subject: [OSL | CCIE_Security] IPexpert racks for 4 or 5 hours > >> > >> > >> > >> Hi all > >> > >> As if now, the IPexpert racks can be rented for 8 hours only. It would > >> great, if there is an option for having 4 or 5 hours slot so that we > >> can practice on weekdays too. With 8 hours, it is possible to practice > >> on weekends only. > >> > >> > >> > >> With regards > >> Kings > >> > >> _______________________________________________ > >> For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, > >> please visit www.ipexpert.com > >> > >> > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please > visit www.ipexpert.com > > > > _______________________________________________ > > For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please > visit www.ipexpert.com > _______________________________________________ > For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please > visit www.ipexpert.com > > > > -- > ------- > Jimmy Larsson > Ryavagen 173 > s-26030 Vallakra > Sweden > http://blogg.kvistofta.nu > ------- > _______________________________________________ > For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please > visit www.ipexpert.com > > > --- > > Nefkens Advies > > Enk 26 > > 4214 DD Vuren > > The Netherlands > > > Tel: +31 183 634730 > > Fax: +31 183 690113 > > Cell: +31 654 323221 > > Email: [email protected] > > Web: http://www.nefkensadvies.nl/ > > Think before you print. > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > For more information regarding industry leading CCIE Lab training, please > visit www.ipexpert.com > >
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