Ian Michael Gumby wrote:
> Its been a couple of years and I believe that some of the players have
> moved on to a different role, but its a true story none the less. But
> take it with a grain of salt.
>
> After I left IBM, I was involved in the local user group.
> On a con-call with IBM and some of the other local user group
> volunteers, we were looking for a way to increase awareness and
> improve the local group's member****p.
>
> We wanted to be able to reach out and talk to as many of the local
> users as possible. The biggest issue is that we didn't know who,
> outside the regular users were using Informix products.
>
> IBM has this database called AAS. This is the database used by sup****t
> to determine if you are entitled to sup****t when you call in to the
> 800 help line.
>
> It would be trivial to go to sup****t and get the contact information
> on all of the customers who have a physical plant in the Chicagoland
> area. (OK, so you get all the customers in IL, WI, and MI and then cut
> the list down to those within a 120 mile radius (2 hour drive) to your
> meeting and then invite them.)
>
> Getting IBM to do this was next to impossible for several reasons.
>
> None of the reasons were real. They were just excuses because they
> didn't want to do the leg work.
Three reasons: Privacy, Privacy, Privacy!
There are VERY strict controls on who gets to see which customer
information even within IBM. Outside: Forget it!
You may want to think back to the business conduct guidelines you had to
sign every year while at IBM.
Cheers
Serge
--
Serge Rielau
DB2 Solutions Development
IBM Toronto Lab
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