Withdrawing support for Pro/Intralink 3.4

[lak]

Hi,


I have come across a message at the below link, where it says,

"Meanwhile, support for Pro/Intralink 3.4 will be withdrawn in June
2008. It isn't going to stop working, but customers will not get any
updates for security or OS fixes and will pretty much be left on their
own"






Is PTC withdrawing support for Pro/Intralink 3.4 in June 2008?



I don't think its true. Some one at PTC please respond to this if you
read this message.

Thanks

Lakshman


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[bnoll]

June 2008 or can be extended to June 2009 for additional fee.




Kothimeer, Lakshman (GE Infra, Energy) wrote:
> Hi,
>
>
> I have come across a message at the below link, where it says,* *
>
> *"Meanwhile, support for Pro/Intralink 3.4 will be withdrawn in June
> 2008. It isn't going to stop working, but customers will not get any
> updates for security or OS fixes and will pretty much be left on their
> own"*
>
>
> * *
>
> *_
>
>
>
> Is PTC withdrawing support for Pro/Intralink 3.4 in June 2008?
>
>
>
> I don't think its true. Some one at PTC please respond to this if you
> read this message.
>
> Thanks
>
> Lakshman
>
>
>
> -----End Original Message-----

[ben_loosli]

The general statement is true. PTC has announced that support for
Intralink 3.4 ends at the end of this month.

However,

You can optionally purchase a one year extension for 3.4 maintenance at
a 10% premium.

[amedina]

How much would this actually be? In $'s?

[DaveEngel]

Assuming your maintenance is current then it is 10% more than
that. For example if an Intralink seat is $500/yr, then during the
extended support it will be $550/yr. You'll have to contact PTC for
specific numbers since licensing is so complex. I think PTC was
discounting the fee if you paid before the end of May, contact your
Rep/VAR for details.

Facing the upgrade costs to Windchill Intralink/PDMLink, you'll
see that this is a good deal for another year of Intralink, and
ultimately 1 year of support for Intralink 3.4/Wildfire 4.0. All active
maint customers are supposed to get M060 with wildfire 4.0 support,
however.

This is kind of like paying the Mafia for "protection."

However, it will keep "Windchill" from destroying your
Engineering efficiencies for another year, Aye, Alfonso ;-).

Dave Engel

[jnelson]

I too have had the same concern, especially since the June "deadline" is fast approaching.



Since I am at the PTC/USER Conference at this time, I asked the same question here, and the response that I got, at least my understanding is this:



"INTRALINK 3.4 M060 which is the build required to support Wildfire 4, will be available late June or early July. ALL maintenance payingcustomers are going to have the ability to get this build, if desired, with their current maintenance agreement, and update to WF4 (if desired).

The extended maintenance option (fee is percentage of current agreement) that is being offered for INTRALINK 3.x was probaly not communicated properly when announced. But, it is intended for:

If there were an issue that required Tech Support to file an SPR, then they cannot do so unless the extended maintenance is in place. In addition to that, if there would be an M070 or higher build of ILINK 3.x, you would not be able to get it unless the extended maintenance was in place".



Having said all that, there is more. "If you did not get the extended maintenance but placed a call to Tech Support with a WF4 issue, running from ILINK 3.x, then Tech Support is supposed to continue with the typical (as is now) support, regardless if the extended maintenance was purchased or not. If the call is determined to be ILINK 3.x related then they will verify if the extension of purchased or not. If the call is determined to be PRO/E only related, then the typical (as is now) maintenance agreement is honored".



To summarize, get the extend maintenance option if you are concerned about havingSPRs filed on ILINK3.4 M060, or if you are worried about getting potential future build if they become available.





Like I said, I got this information directly fromPTC(trusted person).

Since I am with the PTCperson the rest of this week I am going toverify with him that the information I just wrote is accurate enough to post to the entirecommunity and if it is I will post my"insider" response to everyone, or he may just do it himself



Sorry for the long response, but I will see if I can get this PTC person toconfirm my understanding of what I wrote on Wednesday, and hopefully I can post an "official" response to the community by Wednesday night or Thursday morning.





Joel Nelson

Sheetmetal TC Chair

[JOES]

Our concern here is that INTRALINK 3.4 M060 is NOT available in time to
deploy it completely before our maintenance runs out. After 8 years of
Intralink, we've had only a handful of support issues, other than one human
error caused problem (PTC provided a workaround solution to it) the only
support calls we ever had was deployment or upgrades. I am sure I am going
to need help getting M060 installed & our data imported to it. So basically
PTC is holding M060 hostage unless we pay the "ransom" of this 10%
maintenance fee. Bad business, when PTC's competitors are using every
method they can to steal us away. Support really should go several months
past the release of that last build code.

Ten percent of what? Our maintenance for 8 seats has always been rolled
into one payment of course. I got a call into our rep for a quote & we
should have it by the end of the week. Theoretically the Intralink
maintenance should be at most 8 x 600USD, so the extended maintenance should
be no more than $600. So it won't be difficult to get a P.O. through but it
is annoying we have to bother with it.

So now I got to find the time, before the extended maintenance runs out, to
deploy this last build code & finally move from WF2.0 to WF4.0. Once there
we will be good for a while. A long while. Even after the Ilink
maintenance runs out, I doubt we will need support. Heck, if I got any real
problems I got you people! In many cases, better than PTC support!

Regards,
Joe S.

[DaveEngel]

Joe S. has some good points. I've often found that the early
builds of "compatible" Pro/E and Pro/Intralink releases sometimes have
issues. I'm not knocking PTC for this since it is understandable that
problems may arise with 2 new releases of software. I've delayed
deploying Pro/E or Pro/E for months to a year waiting on issues to be
resolved. I am concerned that if Intralink 3.4 M060 and Wildfire 4.0
have issues it may take some time to iron out the bugs.

I won't be surprised to see "challenges" in the M050 to M060
upgrade either. Remember the move from Oracle 8i in 3.3 to 9i in 3.4?
The false start with 3.4 F000 and the issues with checkout and
Pro/Locate performance? It took some time to get 3.4 running well. I
hope we don't see similar performance/upgrade issues when we move to
Oracle 10g in M060.

Having paid the "ransom" our Intralink 3.4 M050 test server is
ready to try the M060 upgrade.

Dave Engel

[BrianToussaint]

The interesting thing on their product schedule is that they already expect to have M070 in 1Q2009. Could that be a hint for M060 or have that many people signed up for extra support already?

[campbell]

Hello everyone -

I'd like to clarify a few things...

First off, Joe S., we're not holding Pro/I 3.4 M060 hostage. Whether
you pay for extended support or not, all Pro/INTRALINK customers that
are currently active on maintenance will have access to it when we
release it later this summer. Furthermore, once you deploy it, you will
have access to Tech Support, and they will continue to provide advice
and answer questions related to Pro/INTRALINK 3.4, as long as you are
entitled to that by continuing to pay for maintenance. However, in
order to download and deploy future Maintenance Releases of
Pro/INTRALINK (M070 and beyond), you will need to pay for extended
support.

Furthermore, we are currently planning for Pro/E Wildfire 4.0 M030 to be
compatible with Pro/I 3.4 M060. Right now, we are testing 3.4 M060 with
4.0 M030, and expect that M030 will be the first Pro/E Wildfire 4.0
Maintenance Release to work with Pro/I 3.4 M060. Of course, if we
encounter a major issue with that combination, we may need to fix it in
M040, but the current plan is for M030. Also, note that M030 and future
Pro/E Wildfire 4.0 Maintenance Releases will work with Pro/I 3.4 M060.
(That is, it is not ONLY the Pro/E Wildfire 4.0 M030 release that will
be compatible - I was asked this today at the User Event.)

Pro/E Wildfire 4.0 M030 is expected on June 20th.