Chuck Ryan <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>I chose to go with 3rd party support because 90% of my dealings with HP over
>the last 3 years has left me either frustrated or angry. I can only describe
>the support organization as being in a state of collapse due to, from what I
>can see, amazingly incompetent management.

Only for the past 3 years?  I was one of the first engineers hired
for the Atlanta Response Center in 1984, and made it to the beginning
of 1998 before bailing -- due to a combination of complete incompetence
on the part of local management along with Lew Platt's first steps towards
the total evisceration of the HP Way.

As a f'rinstance, one of the RC's high-level managers was working on
his MBA and so used the entire North American RC organization as his
"lab-rat guinea pigs" for each of his thesis projects.

Several major reorganizations (over the course of 3-4 years, and all
of them "on HP's nickel", of course) later, the manager in question
was encouraged to move to another position after all those re-orgs
(and re-reorgs, and re-re-reorgs, etc.) resulted in no appreciable
increase in customer satisfaction ratings nor any type of measurable
decline in costs.

In short, HP spent a buttload of money to allow one of its mid-level
managers to use an entire organization as his personal plaything.


--
    Mike Reaser, Atlanta, GA, USA         B1vf+w+d+(cv)g+kvs++l+
ICQ 36141307   If it's there, remove the YOUKNOW to, well, you know

          Always remember to pillage *before* you burn!

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