We have always had a product named Beta44 in house (used to print wallpaper showing job schedules). Originally from Beta Systems, it was sold to ASG quite a few years back. We had been running the out-of-service version 2.4.7 for years, 'because it still works'.
1. With the migration of Beta products to V4, Beta Systems drastically changed their licencing scheme, making it incompatible with everything running V3. Couldn't even run on the same lpar together (in the version we had). Beta44 still needed V3, so I asked ASG Support how Beta V4 is handled with Beta44. Answer: No problem, completely compatible. Then I went and asked how asg gets their keys into the new beta licencing scheme. Quietness, and then: Oh well, in about 3 months time we'll have ASG V33 that doesn't need the beta architecture (BSA) anymore. On the plus side: They notified me when that became available. 2. I installed V33. No way to call the ISPF application, abend0c4 (not to mention tons of false things in the installation guide, which had not been changed to really reflect the absence of BSA. Got a fix for the abend0c4, still couldn't call the ISPF application with the ASG delivered command clist. I am not ISPF/REXX/clist literate, so I did not see the glaring error in that clist. Took ASG quite a while to tell me what to change. 3. Now we migrated to a new CA7, and *had* to use the new ASG version of Beta44. I downloaded all available fixes. Started the STC, abend282-5C. Had to remove 3 fixes (due to pre statements) that made the product 'more SAF-compliant'. 4. Rollout to semi-production, which runs on the box we're not licenced for. (Had forgotten that, as it changes every other half year.) Started the STC, abend0C4. Changing to the emergency key removed the abend0c4. All in all: I am NOT impressed, neither with their support (which answers fast and to every question, but often wrong as to a fix) nor with the product quality. Smells like extremely sloppy testing to me. Thank goodness I had so much experience with the other two Beta Products we're running (and their problems). Regards, Barbara Nitz -- Psssst! Schon vom neuen GMX MultiMessenger gehört? Der kann`s mit allen: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/multimessenger ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 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
