PTC Maintenance Renewal $1500 - PTC or ENSER

[NEALROSENBLUM]

All,

My maintenance for Pro|E expired at the end of November 2011. But I was already getting irritating sales phone calls and e-mailsfrom from Enser (VAR) in July 2011. Everytime they called, I said, "call me back at the end of November."

But the phone calls and e-mails continued. They offered a 10% discount if I paid in August,.....more calls and more e-mails, etc., etc., etc.

I was so irritated by the endless phone calls and e-mails from Enser that I called PTC to see if I could purchase my maintenance renewal directly through PTC, essentially skipping over the middleman.

PTC said that I am able to do this, but that the cost of maintenance renewal is still $1500. I suggested that the cost of renewal should be less money if PTC does not have to pay Enser their sales commission. PTC said that it does not matter and that the cost is still $1500. I explained that I would be willing to purchase the maintenance renewal at a discount. Then PTC could make a profit and I could get a good deal. PTC said, "No deal!" So in a bad economy, I am willing to spend an amount of money somewhere around $1000 to $1250 for the maintenance renewal. PTC can essentially make infinite profit (I have been on Wildfire 5.0 for nearly 2 years and I call tech support just a few times per year), and I can feel good about getting my maintenance for a good price.

Other than providing irritating phone calls and e-mails, Enser does nothing for me. They don't provide any tech support to me, they don't provide any training,they don't invite me to any baseball games or golf tournaments....NOTHING!!! So why do I have to pay them? And if I can bypass the middleman, then WHY CAN"T THE SAVINGS BE PASSED ON TO ME???

Ihave been aPro|E usersince 1996 and I have atremendous amount of time and energy invested in learning and knowing Pro|E with all of its tricks and quirks (I know thatevery software package has its own issues). But I have been receiving periodic e-mails from SolidWorks andI am actually considering"jumping ship." Will I receive irritating phone calls from SolidWorks?

Any comments.

Sincerely,
Neal Rosenblum
Geometrix Engineering, Inc.
201 N. 13th Avenue
Hollywood, FL 33019
Ph: 954-920-2049
Fax: 954-920-9574
Cell: 954-649-9399
neal@geometrixeng.c

[BenLoosli]

You should have paid the $1350 to Enser and been done with the phone calls. 🙂
Enser is the one giving the discount, though you can be sure they aren't losing money by doing so.
PTC's list price for maintenance is $1500. Enser is getting a volume discount as a VAR for XXX seats. Same as TriStar does and any other VAR.

Jumping ship would depend on your customer base and what they want in a deliverable product.
SolidWorks VARs will be no different than PTC VARs. The VAR is out to make some money by reselling a maintenance contract.

PTC's and SolidWork's sales model is to use a VAR on all small accounts. I have less than 20 seats of Pro/Engineer, Windchill and MathCAD and our maintenance is through a VAR, and it is a lot more than $1500 a year! At a prior company, we were in the top 10 of Pro/E seats corporate wide and went through contract renewal every 3 years with PTC directly. It was a real pain because they want you to increase the number of seats so they get 'new' sales and for that they would discount maintenance. The only problem was the prior contract had so many new seats in it, that the corporation as a whole had excess seats that we weren't using due to the economic downturn. The other company I was with that we had to do maintenance was also directly with PTC. It took 3 or 4 rounds to get obsolete licenses removed from the contract. Dealing with a VAR on license renewal is much easier.


Thank you,

Ben H. Loosli
USEC, INC.

[ptc-1932745]

I would bet that the VAR has the most flexibility to offer you
discounts, bundles, etc... for the software you need.

I would seriously doubt that PTC would do anything to undercut the VAR.
If they did this no one would sign up to be a VAR knowing that PTC can
underbid them at will.



I agree that experienced users have little use for the VAR for day to
day problems, and use them mostly for info on new software versions. I
would hope to use them for issues such as 'best practices', but so far
this support with our VAR has been uneven at best.





Christopher F. Gosnell



FPD Company

124 Hidden Valley Road

McMurray, PA 15317

[JWayman]

Isn't this called:



Capitalism



LOL

John


_____

[StephenW]

The VAR contract with PTC probably says PTC will charge the "MSRP" for maintenance so as not to undercut the VAR.

As a small company, you just have no bargaining leverage. Probably your best bet is to try to get some value out of the VAR.

[jnelson]

I figure that since you are going to "bash" Enser, it is only fair for people to hear another side of the experience with them.

In the past 15 years (give or take) I have been working with Enser in different ways.
At a previous employer, Enser was used as an Engineering Service for Design and Drafting work. For (at least) 5 consistent years they perform above and beyond expectations, always in a professional manner, and always delivering quality work.

When I left that company I went to work for Enser as a contractor.
They paid me good money, and treated me very well, looking at for my best interest (which many companies do not always do these days).

When I was offered a full time position 7 years ago with the company I am with now (leaving Enser), I eventually turned things around here and brought in Enser as a Value Added Engineering Resource, and eventually as my PTC VAR.
With every Engineering Design/Drafting task they have been given, they performed above & beyond expectations, always delivering on time and at or below cost.
As a PTC VAR they have never tried to sell me products that I do not need or want, and have always been available and ready to assist in any way possible whenever asked.
They have never been the "pushy" sales people that I know some VARS and other software vendors are, even around maintenance time I call on them for quotes.
I maybe hear from them every other month. They call to check to see how things are going, and if I have time to discuss my PDM needs of getting off INTRALINK and my interest in the PTC CAM software.

I would recommend Enser to anyone looking for a PTC VAR or Engineering Service.

[NEALROSENBLUM]

Joel,

My entire point is that Enser does nothing for me other than collect money from me. They have NEVER called me to see if they can do anything for me. They have never called to see how my business is doing (I actually don't want them to call me more than ONE TIME). They just call to collect money.

I have had no interaction whatsoever with any of the other services that Enser provides...probably because they are too busy calling me to collect the maintenance renewal fee of $1500.

Sincerely,
Neal Rosenblum
Geometrix Engineering, Inc.
201 N. 13th Avenue
Hollywood, FL 33019
Ph: 954-920-2049
Fax: 954-920-9574
Cell: 954-649-9399
neal@geometrixeng.c

[JOES]

VARs.... irritating calls & emails, even some that we have not used
in over 10 years. Once used, I get never ending communications. Plus
a bunch that we've never used! I ask to be taked on their lists &
they stop for a while only to return at a later date with a new,
enthusiastic rep.

None of these are for Pro as we've always dealt directly with PTC
through our parent company. These are for other CAD platforms
including Solidworks/Catia. Switching platforms are unlikely to stop
the marketing insanity.

Regards,
Joe S.

[dgallup]

The sales calls always reach a fever pitch at the end of a quater and especially at the end of the year. That's because they are reporting quarterly and yearly results. You have 2 days left to get your best deal. On Monday nobody will even return your phone call.

In Reply to Neal Rosenblum:

All,

My maintenance for Pro|E expired at the end of November 2011. But I was already getting irritating sales phone calls and e-mailsfrom from Enser (VAR) in July 2011. Everytime they called, I said, "call me back at the end of November."

But the phone calls and e-mails continued. They offered a 10% discount if I paid in August,.....more calls and more e-mails, etc., etc., etc.

I was so irritated by the endless phone calls and e-mails from Enser that I called PTC to see if I could purchase my maintenance renewal directly through PTC, essentially skipping over the middleman.

PTC said that I am able to do this, but that the cost of maintenance renewal is still $1500. I suggested that the cost of renewal should be less money if PTC does not have to pay Enser their sales commission. PTC said that it does not matter and that the cost is still $1500. I explained that I would be willing to purchase the maintenance renewal at a discount. Then PTC could make a profit and I could get a good deal. PTC said, "No deal!" So in a bad economy, I am willing to spend an amount of money somewhere around $1000 to $1250 for the maintenance renewal. PTC can essentially make infinite profit (I have been on Wildfire 5.0 for nearly 2 years and I call tech support just a few times per year), and I can feel good about getting my maintenance for a good price.

Other than providing irritating phone calls and e-mails, Enser does nothing for me. They don't provide any tech support to me, they don't provide any training,they don't invite me to any baseball games or golf tournaments....NOTHING!!! So why do I have to pay them? And if I can bypass the middleman, then WHY CAN"T THE SAVINGS BE PASSED ON TO ME???

Ihave been aPro|E usersince 1996 and I have atremendous amount of time and energy invested in learning and knowing Pro|E with all of its tricks and quirks (I know thatevery software package has its own issues). But I have been receiving periodic e-mails from SolidWorks andI am actually considering"jumping ship." Will I receive irritating phone calls from SolidWorks?

Any comments.

Sincerely,
Neal Rosenblum
Geometrix Engineering, Inc.
201 N. 13th Avenue
Hollywood, FL 33019
Ph: 954-920-2049
Fax: 954-920-9574
Cell: 954-649-9399
neal@geometrixeng.c

PTC quality philosophy: We've upped our quality standards. Up yours.

[wfalco]

They always try that end of the year BS!!!

[rizzari]

Isn't PTC's fiscal year end in June?

[sharonmshepard]

October.