Upgrading from 7 to 8.1 new support requirement??? 1

[cjjones1100]

We purchased our system in December of last year and it was installed in January after 8.0 was released but was installed at release 7. I had requested 8 to be initially installed but convinced it wasn't fully tested and I should wait until the first quarterly update. I have now been sent a quote less than a year later to update 3 units and 1 VM server from 7 to 8.1 for a whopping $3000... They are telling me that I must buy Avaya support now shown in the quote below. Are they blowing smoke out my ass?

"Attached is a quote to upgrade all locations to IP Office R8.1. There is now an Avaya mandatory support requirement when upgrading to R8.x."

2nd question: Can I contact Avaya directly to get my licenses updated to 8.1 and just do the upgrade myself?

Thanks,

Chris

 

[CarGoSki]

If you have to call Avaya for support on 8.1+ then you need to have purchased Avaya support.
You need upgrade licenses for all sites and I suppose a man at each site to upgrade and to test post upgrade.

 

[cjjones1100]

What they are saying is that Avaya is mandating that we purchase support before allowing us to do the upgrade??? Has anyone else heard this?

The technician I talked to stated 2-3 hours for the updates and I would provide a staff members at each site for testing.

Thanks

 

[intrigrant]

If you are int the EU Avaya MUST give you support on ALL their products for the first year, no need to buy support.
I just escalated a 8.1 issue with One-x portal and initially they refused to open a ticket because we did not buy the IPOSS for this site.
We have claimed support as we have a guarantee on Avaya products on the first year ( Avaya says now only for the hardware and 90 days for the software but we'll see about that later ) and Avaya opened a support ticket for us.
We are quite a big reseller and we really make a point of it, no support = no sales period.

A simple mind delivers great solutions

 

[tlpeter]

Intrigrant, that was my thought too.
Avaya builds the software and if it does not meet the expectations then you can request your money back or a fix.
They should give you a free year.
Even scrappy Mitel does have a free year of software assurance (same crap, different name)


BAZINGA!

I'm not insane, my mother had me tested!

 

[amriddle01]

Not anymore Peter, only 90 days on new systems (Mitel 5000 anyway)

 

[intrigrant]

I can live with 90 days, if there is a problem then it will be encountered within the 90 days period.
If reported within the 90 days and it proves to be a bug Avaya must deliver a fix either for that release or fix it in a later release which will be given free of charge and as it will be a new software release the 90 days period will start again from that day.

A simple mind delivers great solutions

 

[tlpeter]

I can live with that too.
90 days is a nice period to find out if the system is running fine.


BAZINGA!

I'm not insane, my mother had me tested!

 

[wrenchmonkey]

In the U.S. IPOSS is not "required", but "strongly suggested". Without it's purchase, you essentially have no access to upgrades, remote support, etc. There are several options on the terms you (customer) can choose. So required, no. Good insurance, yes. How good the insurance is may depend on how good your partner/provider is. Unfortunately, I think it all boils down to one question. How much faith do you have that everything will go without a hitch in the upgrade and at the end of the day there will be no problems to be resolved.

 

[intrigrant]

We have systems running for years without major interventions or problems, so I am confident that a IPOSS contract is not really a musthave.
What bothers me is that they say that customers who have no IPOSS wil not get support or upgrades, Avaya should/must always give ( paid if out of warranty ) support and allow customers to buy upgrades WITHOUT a IPOSS contract. If not then it will be a sudden death for Avaya.

A simple mind delivers great solutions

 

[wrenchmonkey]

I think Avaya's feel is you can always get upgrades and support, it just so happens it's the same cost as one year of IPOSS (see the humor here)

 

[intrigrant]

I never met a customer upgrading his phone system once a year, if we are lucky it is once in five years.
So IPOSS is ( in my opinion ) a waste of money as the supports needs will be minimum and the upgrade needs equals zero.
Beside that, we deliver support as well and we can earn money with it. Avaya is trying to take that away from us, we can't live only from new sales.
So instead of being a partner it becomes a competetor, we don't do business with competetors.

A simple mind delivers great solutions

 

[Westi]

IPOSS means also hardware replacement, it means that you don't have to have as much in your own service stock and still can charge for the time it takes to upgrade a system and test as well as troubleshooting problems (you need to charge extra for that of course)
cjjones
$3000 means you are buying a maintenance agreement for 3 years so it is not really a nasty sum of money as it is like an insurance for 3 years time. You can also upgrade then to the next releases without paying a huge amount of money but labour only for the tech on site which is (depending on how many applications and servers you are running) a few hours. Should your system blow up you get replacement parts for free and should you have a 30 port expansion module going kaput you have made a good deal with that money.

Joe W.

FHandw, ACSS (SME), ACIS (SME)

http://convergednetworks.ca

There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't

 

[intrigrant]

Then the whole IPOSS concept hasn't been explained properly to us by either Avaya or our reseller, i'll ask for them to fully explain the exact details of what is offered and what the pro's and con's are for us. ( I did before but.... they don't seem to know either.. )

A simple mind delivers great solutions

 

[Telecomboy]

There are different codes for covering tech support/upgrades versus covering equipment as well.

 

[crumthwacket]

Avaya needs to take a hard look at all the confusion they have allowed to occur - it's very unprofessional and makes our jobs more difficult.

 

[Telecomboy]

agreed!

 

[JordanWitthoft]

I just started a new job. This company was paying about 16K a year to avaya for hardware maintenance on a system that consists of two IPO 500 boxes and 75 phones. Complete rip-off. I also contacted our re-seller and they claim the upgrade will be about 3,500 if they were to do it and 1,200 is somekind of maintenance fee.

 

[tlpeter]

Jordan, an upgrade license for one IPO is $199
So it will cost them $298 total.
then the rest is time and i don't think they will do it in 10 hours for $90 but in one or two hours max.


BAZINGA!

I'm not insane, my mother had me tested!

 

[Telecomboy]

You should find yourself a new reseller. Any certified avaya partner can take over the system and upgrade your sites for you.