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Thread Support Policy Update
Tue, Jul 7 2015 4:54 PMPermanent Link

Tim Young [Elevate Software]

Elevate Software, Inc.

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Email timyoung@elevatesoft.com

We've updated our support policy in an effort to address concerns from
customers about the lack of support with product subscriptions.  All product
subscriptions now include product support from us via the support forums.
This means that I will be providing support on the support forums daily, and
they are no longer only peer-supported.

However, in order to make the new policy work, we have had to prevent anyone
from posting messages in the support forums that does not have an active
subscription for the corresponding product.  So, you may not be able to post
any new messages until you renew your product subscription.

For more information, please see the blog post from Sam here:

http://www.elevatesoft.com/blog?action=view&id=subscription_policy_update

You should also be receiving an email directly from us concerning the
update.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Sam at
sales@elevatesoft.com.

Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com

Tue, Jul 7 2015 9:42 PMPermanent Link

Rick

On 08/07/15 06:54, Tim Young [Elevate Software] wrote:
> We've updated our support policy in an effort to address concerns from
> customers about the lack of support with product subscriptions.  All
> product subscriptions now include product support from us via the
> support forums. This means that I will be providing support on the
> support forums daily, and they are no longer only peer-supported.
>
> However, in order to make the new policy work, we have had to prevent
> anyone from posting messages in the support forums that does not have an
> active subscription for the corresponding product.  So, you may not be
> able to post any new messages until you renew your product subscription.
>
>

Thanks for the info Tim. What happens if you have downloaded the trial
to try out the product before purchasing and have questions? Should such
users email you directly?

--
Rick
Wed, Jul 8 2015 3:33 AMPermanent Link

Roy Lambert

NLH Associates

Team Elevate Team Elevate

Tim


It is your company and hence your right to make such decisions, however, if I understand what you are proposing correctly, I would like to say I deplore the change. My basic assumption is that "product support forum" = newsgroups. If that is incorrect please ignore everything below.

When you initiated the last change it was made clear that official support should be channeled through the support sessions and direct support via email, phone and that these forums would be user supported.I have tried to follow this and pointed out to others that these are user supported newsgroups.

I only posses a current subscription to ElevateDB but I am still willing, and occasionally able, to offer support on the DBISAM newsgroups. With this change I may no longer do so unless I pay for the privilege.

I can understand people's frustration with seeing you spending time responding to posts on the EWB newsgroups and not the others but, from personal experience, an "official" request for support has always been met quickly and with your usual thoroughness.

I appreciate the fact that you are still permitting lurkers which is something some other vendors may not allow but I do believe that this is not a good idea and request that you re-think it.

I would also request that anyone with views either way respond to this post.

Roy Lambert
Wed, Jul 8 2015 3:55 AMPermanent Link

Matthew Jones

Roy Lambert wrote:

> I only posses a current subscription to ElevateDB but I am still
> willing, and occasionally able, to offer support on the DBISAM
> newsgroups.

I figure that the way forward is to have a "peer_support" section,
which is open to anyone. But maybe that fragments things too much?
Perhaps then an "open_discussion" but that doesn't allow you to respond
in place.

Perhaps the main thing is that there is an openness to change, and see
how it goes.


--

Matthew Jones
Wed, Jul 8 2015 7:56 AMPermanent Link

Roy Lambert

NLH Associates

Team Elevate Team Elevate

Matthew


The other thing that occurs to me is that its very quiet apart from on the EWB ngs. Nice stable products not requiring much support, everyone using the official channels or what. I don't know but I'm sure Tim will.


Roy Lambert
Wed, Jul 8 2015 9:26 AMPermanent Link

Raul

Team Elevate Team Elevate

On 7/8/2015 3:33 AM, Roy Lambert wrote:
> I only posses a current subscription to ElevateDB but I am still willing, and occasionally able, to offer support on the DBISAM newsgroups. With this change I may no longer do so unless I pay for the privilege.

Technically I do have a subscription for DBISAM thru employer but its
not linked to my own account so i would lose ability to post in DBISAM
NGs as well for now (I know this one is easily solvable by contacting
Elevate support so just a comment).

My personal opinion only but seems to me there are lot of people (like
Roy) who appear to have switched to EDB and might not have active DBISAM
subscription yet have lot of experience with it still and willing to
contribute.

> I would also request that anyone with views either way respond to this post.

I personally don't believe there is that much extra noise on the forums
and ability to post before you buy i always thought was one of the great
things - especially with the EWB2 just out.

It's Tim's company and he has the background data (like percentage of
customers actually ever posting anything etc) and of course can do as he
pleases with his own company.

My feelings on this are mixed - i always have  preferred the more open
model of these NGs.

Raul
Wed, Jul 8 2015 10:50 AMPermanent Link

Tim Young [Elevate Software]

Elevate Software, Inc.

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Email timyoung@elevatesoft.com

Rick,

<< Thanks for the info Tim. What happens if you have downloaded the trial to
try out the product before purchasing and have questions? Should such users
email you directly? >>

Yes, we’ve made a point on the web site to make sure that this is clear to
those developers evaluating our products.

We're trying to get a handle on *actual* evaluators vs. people just
downloading our trial versions and using them, and this is a part of that
effort.  For example, for some time we’ve had issues with people using the
trial versions (or pirated versions) for long periods of time, and during
that time asking for support (and getting it) on the support forums.  Now,
they'll have to contact us directly and we can then determine who is a
legitimate evaluator vs. someone that is never going to pay us for anything.

Also, no offense to the great peer assistance offered here by everyone, but
I would like the initial experience of evaluators to include direct support
from us.  It gives us more opportunity to deal specifically with a potential
customer in ways that can't necessarily be done publicly here on the support
forums.

Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com
Wed, Jul 8 2015 10:57 AMPermanent Link

Matthew Jones

Tim Young [Elevate Software] wrote:

> I would like the initial experience of evaluators to include direct
> support from us

That's a good idea, but some people like to be less direct. My
suggestion would be that someone evaluating can get a short term access
to ask questions here, once they've talked to you. Indeed, that might
be a good offer for them to be interested in contacting you - they gain
access to posting here for a short time.

--

Matthew Jones
Wed, Jul 8 2015 11:11 AMPermanent Link

Tim Young [Elevate Software]

Elevate Software, Inc.

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Email timyoung@elevatesoft.com

Roy,

<< I only posses a current subscription to ElevateDB but I am still willing,
and occasionally able, to offer support on the DBISAM newsgroups. With this
change I may no longer do so unless I pay for the privilege. >>

Actually, you’re a forum moderator (Team Elevate) still, so you can post
anywhere. Smile

<< I can understand people's frustration with seeing you spending time
responding to posts on the EWB newsgroups and not the others but, from
personal experience, an "official" request for support has always been met
quickly and with your usual thoroughness. >>

Yes, but that isn't cutting it.  We tried to solve a major issue with the
last support/subscription policy change, and it ended up creating another
one.  A lot of customers feel like they’re not getting enough value for
their subscription, and it was showing in a major way in terms of our
subscription revenue.  I won't quote dollar figures, but it's substantial
and essentially negated all of the EWB 2 upgrade revenue for the year so far
Frown

Now that EWB 2 is done, this is an effort at providing more value and
getting the subscription revenue back up.

Of course, if anyone can post messages regardless of their subscription
status, then there is no longer any additional value being provided.  So, it
naturally follows that there needs to be restrictions on who can post.  The
other alternative is to go back to the unlimited support model, which worked
well for customers, but not so much for us with long-term development of
major features for products like EWB and EDB that require a lot of
development time.

So, rock, meet hard place.

<< I appreciate the fact that you are still permitting lurkers which is
something some other vendors may not allow but I do believe that this is not
a good idea and request that you re-think it. >>

Feel free to propose an alternative that solves the above issues, and I'm
all ears.

Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com
Wed, Jul 8 2015 11:20 AMPermanent Link

Tim Young [Elevate Software]

Elevate Software, Inc.

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Email timyoung@elevatesoft.com

Raul,

<< Technically I do have a subscription for DBISAM thru employer but its not
linked to my own account so i would lose ability to post in DBISAM NGs as
well for now (I know this one is easily solvable by contacting Elevate
support so just a comment). >>

We can easily set you up as a moderator (and would like to do so).  Please
contact me via email about this, if you're interested.  Your posts get
marked as "Team Elevate", though, so I may need to add an option to turn
that on or off.

But, the point is that the support forums are back to being an official
support channel, and not just peer support.

<< My personal opinion only but seems to me there are lot of people (like
Roy) who appear to have switched to EDB and might not have active DBISAM
subscription yet have lot of experience with it still and willing to
contribute. >>

I understand, and no offense to Roy, but *I'm* going to be monitoring the
support forums, so.....

And, as previously-mentioned, there are still a group of customers that are
moderators (Team Elevate).

<< I personally don't believe there is that much extra noise on the forums
and ability to post before you buy i always thought was one of the great
things - especially with the EWB2 just out. >>

It's never been about the content of the support forums.  It's about
subscription revenue: no more, no less.

Tim Young
Elevate Software
www.elevatesoft.com
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