Sma

Save your posts people

To what end? I posted that yesterday afternoon. They almost immediately pulled it for "moderation", but they also sent me a PM saying that is what they were doing. Now they have restored the post. Either they will listen to what we have to say or they won't. Saving your post will do what? Allow you to post it again. To what end? I want to believe they are listening this time, but I and many others have been saying this for years now. What I do know for certain is that soon I will quit trying and begin seriously looking at other options.

I think anyone who would do that already is, and is probably running the last really good version you made, 3.7MR3/4. Most of your customers, like myself and the company I work for will pay the SMA every year because we want the phone tech support when we need it and we want access to the new versions that actually are worth the effort to download and install. Computers and operating systems have a limited lifespan. Eventually even those who would prefer not to will have to keep up with the technology treadmill. There would be much less pc-dmis "bashing" if there was one Major release every 3-5 years, with each one of them was on a par with 3.2063 or 3.7MR3 and none of them another 3.6 or 4.0.

+1
My company pays the SMA for tech support, and for new versions... Since 4.2, I update versions only to try to fix the bugs previous version... And sometimes, an old bug fixed by a version re-appears in a later one... There are many enhancements that I use since 3.7MR3, but some bugs are very ennoying (clearplanes in 4.3, tempcomp since 2010, auto calibration in vision...).
But I still think that PC-DMIS is a great software... !

What I do know for certain is that soon I will quit trying and begin seriously looking at other options.

People from the Nordic branch visited us some years back when the issues with PC-DMIS was brought forward to the top brass here, in an effort to try to help us get going - they blatantly thought it was user error only. They got to see the bugs firsthand and they tried everything to get rid of them back then (I was thinking they were looking to pin the problems on us) they updated drivers, updated BIOS, went into BIOS settings - you name it - to no avail. They brought their specialists and whatnot and even that guy acknowledged it as bugs.

This time around, there will be no chance to come try smoothing things over. We now know the state of the software we bought and no second chances will be given.

Wes, you are not the only one feeling this way.

Wes, you keep saying that it's all the user error, so it must be true.

This is standard for SMA's in all industries. I pay my CAD SMA, and I pay SMA's for other software, and they ALL (without exception!!!) won't let me update software after the SMA has run out. I don't like it either, but it's a fact.

SMAs are industry standard and there aren't many customers that do not accept and understand that. However, not all SMAs are the same. Terms vary from software to software. Do not conflate the fact that there is an SMA on PC DMIS as well as other software with the terms of the SMA on PC DMIS being as easy of a pill to swallow as other software SMA terms. I understand you are one man at Hexagon and likely one that will never make a difference so it is probably very difficult for you to act as forum fireman for situations that are out of your hands but it is disingenuous at best and a bad representation of the organization under which you are employed to always retort with "live with it, this is the way the industry works".

The terms of Hexagon's SMA is not a reflection of how the industry works but rather trends in Hexagon's market share is an honest reflection of how the industry works and your market share juxtaposed by your stock value trend goes to show that not all players in this market are the same. If Hexagon wishes to see an improvement in it's market share and the folks that manage that corporation have the wherewithal to satisfy Hexagon's board then those folks in your organization are going to have to conceded that Hexagon does not drive the market to the extent that your managers believe it does and get serious about your failures and actually do something about them rather than tell your customers to live with it because eventually your customers are going to live with other machines and other software. I know you take a beating here every time you rear your head and a great deal of it is irrational and knee-jerk, reactionary belly-aching in my opinion but do not dismiss legitimate, rational complaints. Take them to the bank. Your dismissal on behalf of Hexagon is a clear indication that continuous improvement is not on Hexagon's agenda which is further validated by the rush-rush nature which software goes to market not with improvements on past failures but rather with more bells and whistles and shiny reports. You have a good product but it is my belief that the development of said product is seeing serious resource mismanagement. The impression I get from the products you put out and the way customers are treated is that Hexagon is an organization ran primarily by it's marketing team, likely to the extent that others within the organization as well as those outside the organization are for the most part ignored. If my impression is true then Hexagon is certainly poised for the kind of leadership failure that will ultimately make your board of directors very, very unhappy.

By the way, I run Autodesk (cad) products and have been for years and I have seen them issue fixes that were issued to all customers including those that were no longer under SMA. All is a broad term.

now it's offtopic?? ::

Time warp and travel through a worm hole. Shazam!

New game.

Thread huckle-buckle beanstalk!

Try and find the post.

Then run back to your chair and yell "huckle-buckle beanstalk"!

Time warp and travel through a worm hole. Shazam!

What have you been smoking? It was just a short walk.

I moved this thread to the off topic, as it has become a rant.

I can't comment as well as I'd like today, I've got some work to do.

One thing I will say in general, is that everyone comments as if they know what I do on a daily basis. You don't. They also believe that ranting and provoking and creating drama will somehow get something done. It won't. Only CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is useful. Provoking and spinning and creating drama only hurt your purpose (and mine!) which is to improve the software, improve support, improve everything on a daily basis.

Please, one of you speak up (prefer someone who's been moderated at least once ), PM me the name of your company and volunteer your company for my study to see if you have any quality issues. I will find them and report them on this board, and a forum if your company has one. I'll do it in the same style you do here, and I'll even buy some of your product if it's something I can use and evaluate it's fitness for my purpose (if I can afford it, which I probably can't). If I can't, I'll interview others, and then report back here. If anyone thinks their company is perfect, I want to hear about it. My point is simply that every company has their issues, all are trying to fix them, and only good feedback can fix it.

I'm NOT telling anyone to shutup, I'm just saying be respectful, and actually try to help. I find it disingenuous when people who haven't even used the new versions complain about how bad they are. They detract from the real purpose here, which is to discuss the software that you guys love. Just discussion. This is not a bug reporting tool, or a customer service portal. We have places for that.

Please help me keep this forum open, and keep it's freedoms, and keep it productive by being professional. Those who wander into unprofessionalism, we have to punish for the benefit of others. It's our responsibility. You can be outraged all you want, this board, our users, and our marketshare will all grow after you (the vocal minority) leave over the silliness. People like myself and other professional people who work hard to actually make a difference don't hang out on these boards blowing hot air to see if we can get banned, or get someone upset. We do our job. You can choose to help, or continue to rant, it's your choice.

YES, I am here to listen, to help, and yes I'm not here all the time. THAT's because I have a job to do which is helping customers who CALL or email or PM me real problems, that I really get taken care of. Forum ranting may feel good, but it rarely gets the job done. Plenty of Hexagon people look on here, but when the criticism is wrapped in unprofessional garbage, it's hard to see the real problem underneath. I have posted more than once how to get a real problem taken care of, and it's never been "post on the forum". The forum is for discussion only. If you have better ideas, try letting me know directly. I will PM anyone my phone number and email.

Also, if you have specific ideas about how to fix everything in the software, in the world, whatever, seriously PM me. I'm busy, but I listen, and I do pass on criticism, but constructive criticism only.

Not all of what I am saying here applies to all people, there are many on this board who are incredibly professional, and helpful. Thanks to them, you know who you are.

That's it, thanks for listening to my rant.

Respectfully - BG.