Hi NacNac,
I believe the question should be both VAR (vendor approved reseller) andoriginal equipment manufacturer, or OEM (PTC). As a past PTC implementation consultant and end user (aircraft design engineer), Dave Demay is correct. Even PTC GS consultants are not aware of all current SPRs. Sometimes searching through PTC knowledge base or working with PTC technical support doesn't always get the right/all answers. PTC technical support and GS are not the same departments. And like always, it takes skills and experience to be more aware of common issues. With VARs, the access to PTC information is less than PTC consultants.
Both VARs and OEMs are allowed to pick from many sources of resources from the very experienced to green out of school in many different areas:
- end users/business owners/advisors (engineering/configuration managers, engineers, techincal writers, lawyers, medial, other program and project managers in the various industries) who can be easily trained in the tools
- EX-OEM consultants(ex-PTC Consultants), customer support, developers
- Sofware and hardware engineers
- Infrastructure experts
- DBAs
On the other side of the fence, the customer has constraints (budget, resources, time)and should be completely aware of the limitations and risk if they choose their paths of implementation with VARs (certified or not) and OEMs. Sometimes always going with theeither big or smallcompanies, you may lose out in the success of the implementations:
- Big OEMs/VARs can send you green guys due to price points and profit
- small VARs just doesn't have the bandwidth to provide solutions and support
- Going cheap can be very costly in the long run with workarounds, business impacts and redo's
- Going expensive, initial impact of cost and better get it right the first time.
Implementations, should be really like an operation room, have great working team with the best of the best from business, solution, system architectures to fit the true needs of the customer like a patient. The green guys tag along for a year or 2 to be trained and get adequate experience. Since most implementations incur the same cost as medical operations, we should take that path of professionally ensuring consultants of software receive adequate skills before they jump into doing surgery. Similarly, Europeans have a great apprenticeship program. The great difference in implementing software is the ability to follow ITIL, Agile and UML methodology with repeat testing of user/business requirements and acceptance with development, test and then production. Engineering and CM process are not really different from customer to customer. You can always simplify/filter functionality and business rules from the most complex of large companies (medical, aerospace, legal, insurance) to the simple smaller companies.
My belief is that you always care about the end user/customer. You should always be customer focused and oriented. Only the success of a customer guarantees your, VARs and OEMs success. I wish software engineers and OEMs board of directors take an oath of ethics and law like most professions out there. (i.e. doctors, lawyers, engineers, nurses, accountants,
etc). After all, these professions (customers)depend on these PDM/PLM, ERP and CRM tools. If they are liable, the solution provider should be liable. With that professional liability of either VARs and OEMs, both are responsible and accountable to the impacts to the customer and adhere to a higher organization rules to ensure that accountability and responsibility. I wish we can publically rate VARs and OEMs like doctors references. I don't see that yet. It's just hard sometimes to get possitive feedback from customers due ignoring filling out a survey. Opposite, easy to get feedback from frustrated customersreleasing negative energy withventing out frustration.
It is so hard to know everything, but to take ownership, accountabilityand responsibility is the key to success in any product from both the customer, VARs and OEMs. A fine balancing act between profits versusethics & law. That's my 2 cents.
Best Regards.
Patrick Chin, P.Eng.
In Reply to NacNac MOTT:
Hello
Imagine you are an end users (maybe you are....) you are working on a project to make big changes on your business system (let be it PLM 🙂 ) You work with your consultant, he develops tools, testing are organized and you start implementing the change.
You find a few bizarre things happening. you check on your test server and you can reproduce. Of course, one can say testing was not done properly. Alright but can you really test everything in everything details ? Especially when it is about moving data from one context to another one in the same organisation.
Now, you investigate further and the consultant says that there is a bug in PDMLink 9.1 M050 (exactly the version you use !!!)
https://www.ptc.com/appserver/cs/view/solution.jsp?n=CS12557
Would you expect your consultant to know all the bugs or check if there are any bugs related to Move before ?
Especially that the project is actually only about Moving data (ok create new contexts and ACL).
In other words, should your consultant knows areas of issues in PDMLink that could impact your system and inform you early on in the project by saying. Hold on, you want to do that but beware there are such and such bugs.....
What is your view ?
Thanks
) You work with your consultant, he develops tools, 
