Self Maintenance

[calhoony]

Is there a way to change the root password on my S8730 Servers so Avaya can't get in and take my maintenance permissions away?

 

[98Converter]

Unplug or change your INADS lines... This way they can't access it to begin with.

But to answer your question, I'm not sure its possible.

Thanks,
98C

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit. ARISTOTLE 384-322 B.C.

 

[mikeydidit]

If you do not pay for your maintenance rights they will show up one day, login, and disable your MSP's. I have had this conversation before with Avaya. If fact it got to be a heated conversation at that point. I was sent a copy of the "fine print" that states they have those rights. So that's where i was at.

If you really want to keep the MSP's and are able to maintain your equipment, then just get a maintenance assist contract and be done with it. IMO thats the only way and what i did. Thats is the cheapest way to go about it also.

When is the last time you helped someone, just because you were able to?

For the best response to a question, read faq690-6594

 

[calhoony]

Thanks mikeydidit, we are paying over $700,000 a year out to avaya and they do absolutly noting for us. We fix all of our own hardware and update all of our firmware. We just upgraded to CM5.2.1 on our own, with very, very limited assistance from a Business Partner. I could buy completely new S8730 servers and G650 stacks every year for $700K. We have our own NOC so we monitor our own stuff 7X24.

 

[mikeydidit]

Look at the agreement you are under. Maintenance assist is as cheap as its going to get.

When is the last time you helped someone, just because you were able to?

For the best response to a question, read faq690-6594

 

[DAVIDPAYNE]

As Mike said it is a terms of service issue. Because you are only paying for the right to use their software they can limit’s it use. You only own the hardware.

 

[calhoony]

We have been trying to get a software support quote out of them but we have a couple of legacy systems that do not qualify for that option so we are stuck. We only pay $350K annually for all of our Juniper routers...it is killing my boss that the Avaya stuff is 2X as expensive.

 

[mikeydidit]

I think you can get it on older stuff too. I had it on G3R and Intuity (still do on Intuity)

When is the last time you helped someone, just because you were able to?

For the best response to a question, read faq690-6594

 

[kjrnec]

Unplug or change your INADS lines... This way they can't access it to begin with".


I asked about this issue on another forum and was told if you unplug your INADS line Avaya will continue to bill you until they can remote in and disable your maintenance permissions.

 

[vaoldschl]

I have done the maintenance assist thing in the past and can recommend it.

I would be leery of severing ties completely with the new PLDS switch for downloads. Right now it looks like you can still get firmware/QPPCN stuff but how long before that requires a Sold To and rights into the PLDS system?

I know it totally grates how Avaya goes after the (rather large) nickels and dimes. Firm I just started with paid for Software Support with Upgrades and even after shelling out thousands for one of our sites it will be 3K in installation costs to upgrade. When I said I'd do it myself they said OK fine but it will be 1K for us to certify your work. What a joke; I've been working on these systems longer than anybody they have ever sent out. I'm doing a cost analysis of SSU right now.

Sorry, rant over: strong 2nd for the Maintenance Assist offering.

 

[calhoony]

Thanks for the input vaoldschl, have been trying to get a hard price for software support with upgrades but I think our account manager is trying to make us pay. We have been Avaya/Lucent/AT&T from the beginning and we are actually looking to go another direction. I fought to keep the Avaya equipment over Cisco but if they want to charge these unreal maintenance charges they will loose customers.