> >I'm going to disagree slightly, respectfully. > >In my experience IBM recommends purchasing Novell or Red Hat support at >some level (or will price that into a support agreement). Not much >disagreement there. IBM thinks it's a good idea that Linux distributors >get revenue in return for the good work that they do. But many customers >value the IBM battle-tested support process and the fact that Level 3 >consists of IBM's Linux developers (in Germany and elsewhere) who make most >of the System z-related contributions to the Linux kernel. > >The general and attractive point is that customers get to shop around and >find the Linux support package that fits their needs. Sometimes that >support package involves two support providers, one from the hardware >company and one from the distributor. > >Timothy Sipples
Being a user of IBM and Novell, I can agree to disagree with this view. This may be IBM's preference in one part of IBM but the another part of IBM is doing what it has done well; providing support backed up with a contract and agreement which spells out what happens when something breaks. The first place I went for buying "Linux Support" was Novell. This two week ordeal to find out what I would get for my $13K turned out to be less than one sheet describing how they would answer the phone and no substance beyond that. My disbelief caused it to drag out for the two weeks. So I approached IBM and got a 13 page description of how things would work; cost $20K. Went back to Novell to tell them what IBM was doing. The only commment was to visit their WEB site and see the description they offer. Maybe IBM wants me to use Novell, but another part of IBM thought out what "Support" really is and offers it. I get questions answered, problem dumps looked at, fixes if I need them, and if the fix is not available yet in the Open-Source community, IBM writes one. This comes on the same way I do z/OS PMR's. Keep in mind I still have to buy Novell's "e-Maintenance" for new Linux releases, fix updates, etc. But I need the same level of support which I have contracted for with z/OS. When Novell can match it, in a contract, be glad to compare what I get, the price, etc and jump from Big Blue. Jim ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
