The New MIS System

[Cory Smith]

 

[michaelejahn]

At PressWise, we do not actually charge for training. No Joke.

 

[cjs]

I love these musings by Mr. Pritchard and am a longtime reader of his blog, so please do not think I am being critical, but when I read this today I had a feeling of déjà vu --- then I remembered this Dilbert strip.

Regardless of the origin of the punchline this point is still true and very applicable to our industry. My company recently dove headfirst into a new MIS that was supposed to make everything run smoother but instead has created more problems than it has solved (thus far). The hidden costs of implementation involving training and customization need to be factored in to the decision just as much as the sticker price.

 

[gordo]

I love these musings by Mr. Pritchard and am a longtime reader of his blog, so please do not think I am being critical, but when I read this today I had a feeling of déjà vu --- then I remembered this Dilbert strip.

Interesting. The punchline actually came from an engineer when Creo was just starting to get into the MIS world with PrintCafe. During discussions as to whether traing should be included (which would increase the cost or lower profitability) he said that "If we don't include training the customer will just rely more on guesswork than usual." That stuck in my brain because it applies to so many aspects of print production when new technologies are purchased.

Best, gordo

 

[michaelejahn]

Indeed ! Of Course, Creo created intuitive interfaces so your guesses were more often than not "correct". My favorite Dilbert involved the punch line "there is a fine line between marketing and fraud". Having been a product marketing manager for AGFA Apogee, that cartoon was taped to my monitor, to remind me not to drift too far over that line !

 

[Deleted member 16349]

My favorite Dilbert involved the punch line "there is a fine line between marketing and fraud". Having been a product marketing manager for AGFA Apogee, that cartoon was taped to my monitor, to remind me not to drift too far over that line !

On which side were you trying to stay on?

 

[michaelejahn]

@ Erik Nikkanen - oh, like you don't already know !?

Michael Jahn's blog - [email protected]

 

[gordo]

At PressWise, we do not actually charge for training. No Joke.

Ah, "marketing and fraud"

I'm sure that you charge for training but the cost is included in the purchase price rather than as a separate line item. Some one has to pay the trainer and for the development of training materials. If the vendor does not factor all the costs of doing business in the sell price of their offerings then they usually go out of business.

Best, gordo

 

[michaelejahn]

@ Gordo,

We offer support. It is part of the monthly fee ( we are cloud based, or customer pay us month to month, no contract ) - so, yes, in that sense, you are absolutely correct. Customer submit support tickets, and most of them would fall under the 'i can't figure out how to do XYZ' - but more often then not ( believe it or not ), they start by searching the KB.