Re: Looking for comments on ObjectAda and books.

[Dave Wood <dpw@aonix.com>]

Larry Kilgallen wrote:

> I would agree that Aonix does not do a good job of communicating with
> Windows customers who are on normal maintenance (yearly fee, single seat).

Perhaps not, and your critiques are certainly welcome.  I will 
address this further below.

> They have a new version due soon so presumably there will be bugs fixed,
> but I wish they had not spent postage mailing brochures about things I
> do not want (all their products which are not Ada compilers) 

Mind reading can be diffult.  :)

> and had
> instead sent a one page newsletter about progress toward V7.1.

Again, below.

> Every time, and by every method, when I have tried to contact them
> about the software, the overall impression I get is that they view
> the purpose of the communication to be a way to add to their marketing
> database.

I find this puzzling, Larry, as I know that I have personally 
communicated with you on multiple occasions and I think answered
all questions put to me.  I know that you have also communicated
directly with engineers and support personnel.  None of us have
any direct access to a marketing database, and therefore our only
goal in communicating with you is to try to answer your questions.

On the other hand, if you are talking about communications with
telesales people (which I know you have also done) you might be
more satisfied if you alter your expectations accordingly, as
telesales people, of necessity, have a more limited knowledge
and more restictive parameters within which to operate.  

If you have something *else* in mind, do feel free to contact
me directly and we'll get to the heart of it.

> Now none of this is meant to denigrate the quality of their compilers,
> and Aonix has various knowlegeable and helpful people contributing
> to this newsgroup, but their formal interface to customers needs
> polishing.

This is a difficult issue.  Dedicated customer support is quite
expensive because it involves actual time from real people. As such,
we offer multiple levels of support to try to meet a variety of
different needs and expectations.  I won't bore the newsgroup
with specifics, but anyone interested in more detail on options
is invited to email me directly.

What we intend to offer for all customers, regardless of support
level, is an interactive forum for communications, much as we had
with ActivAda.  Normally, I would be using this forum to communicate
status and to entertain interactive Q&A.

Unfortunately, we've had ongoing technical problems related
to some freeware list server software (sometimes you get what you
pay for), and that forum has been non-functional for a few 
frustrating months now.  We are working hard on a resolution, and
I expect a breakthrough in the near future.

While awaiting this resolution, I had considered making status
announcements about 7.1 here on c.l.a, but this has two drawbacks:
(1) it might be considered rude by non-ObjectAda customers and/ or
competing companies, and (2) a lot of customers don't read this
newsgroup, at least on a regular basis.

I also considered a newsletter, but I decided that the timing 
would not work out for a number of reasons, most particularly
because by the time I could pull together a newsletter for
an audience the size of the ObjectAda user base, 7.1 will already
be shipping anyway.

So, in summary, here's the status.  ObjectAda for Windows 7.1 
is "out of engineering" and is currently undergoing qualification.
It's in excellent shape and a substantial improvement over what
already was (IMHO) a great product.  I expect qualification to
be complete by the end of this month, and with a two-week
production cycle, we should begin shipping subscription upgrades
approximately mid-May.

I am most happy to entertain *product* or *status* inquiries by email.  
I answer all inquiries that I actually receive (which is quite a lot, 
believe me), although it can take a few days or sometimes weeks if I
need to track down answers that I don't already know.

That said, questions that come to me which are best directed to 
customer support or to our problem database will, in fact, be directed 
to those avenues.

So, if you have a problem or technical question, please contact
our support department at 1-800-97-AONIX (in the US; check your
documentation or our web site for international offices), or send
email to adasupport@aonix.com.

If you have a question about product status or plans, feel free
to email me at dpw@aonix.com.  Please note that much of this
information is available in our FAQ file.  At present, you can
obtain this FAQ file from our customer support department, or
email me a request and I will send it as a Word attachment.  
After it is updated for 7.1, we will provide it on the 7.1 CD
and on our web site, but for now the 7.0 version is available
by mail or email attachment only.

If FOR ANY REASON you feel you are not getting the responsiveness
that you need from anyone at Aonix regarding ObjectAda for Windows,
I invite you to email me directly, as this concerns me very much.
I will investigate and escalate as appropriate.

As always, we appreciate your patronage, as do our children and
significant others.

-- Dave Wood
-- Product Manager, ObjectAda for Windows
-- Aonix - "Ada with an Attitude"
-- http://www.aonix.com