OT: A call to arms (sort of)

From: Richard Erlacher <edick_at_idcomm.com>
Date: Sun Jul 4 20:03:38 1999

<snip>
>
>> of their machines were alike.
>
>I think you ended up with somebody clueless in DEC. I've never had this
>sort of problem with a DEC machine.
>
At the time in question, I had a client whose system required two 11/44's in
lockstep. This meant that the two boxes had to be identical in every way,
both hardware and software. DEC had a VERY difficult time delivering these
pairs. They didn't have trouble charging significantly more for two
identical machines than for just two machines, though. Instead of half a
day per rack, they often took as long as five weeks to get the job done,
several times swapping out each of the two boxes several times.
Fortunately, they couldn't charge for that. You're right, of course, in
that it implies that someone clueless was in the supply chain, but the
impression I got was that clueless was the rule rather than the exception at
DEC. Consequently, I did everything I could to specify other hardware in
the twenty five years or so in which I could do that. Many times that meant
a bill of 5K-bucks instead of 150K-bucks.

Dick
Received on Sun Jul 04 1999 - 20:03:38 BST