George asks:

<snip>

>And finally - with some trepidation - I'd like to raise the question of
whether
>or not you think HP would be completely unreasonable to ask you to *pay*
>a fee for this training.  During this week's webcast, we surveyed the
>community, asking what you thought a reasonable price might be.  Frankly,
>I was a little surprised at the furor that was raised by this question.  In
>addition to the comments that were made on this list, I received a small
>number of emails that can best be described as "agitated" by the idea.  HP
>has *always* charged for technical training in the past.  It costs us
>money to develop it and deliver it.  To be honest, we're only interested
>in charging enough to cover our costs - and no more.

  Although I was unable to attend the webcast, I would agree with the
those in the "agitated" category.  HP/CSY had made commitments to the
e3000 community that it no longer will abide by.  The least it can do
is smooth the way to alternative platforms.  I can fully understand your
desire for those customers to migrate to another HP supported system.
In that spirit, assist them freely in doing so.  Yes you'll have some
customers take the provided information and migrate to a non-HP environment,
but you'll at least not continue to "agitate" those that decide to stay.
If you eventually create various tools/utilities to ease that migration,
make those freely available as well.  If costs are the issue, then
solicit the other divisions for some support.  They as well as HP's
Professional Support Organization (or whatever they're calling themselves
today) are going to be the beneficiary of these migrations, so let them
pick up some of the costs.
  Good will is hard to quantify to bean counters, but the lack of it will
definitely impact your bottom line.

Sincerely,
Michael L Gueterman
Easy Does It Technologies LLC
http://www.editcorp.com
voice: 888.858.EDIT or 573.368.5478
fax:   573.368.5479
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