[DUG] A change in upgrade policy coming from Embarcadero

[Todd Martin]

Hi Malcolm

It seems to me that a sliding scale on the upgrade price would be the
most universally accepted solution. Customers who upgrade more
frequently would benefit, while those who don't are not simply discarded.

Todd.

> Hi all,
> 
>  
> 
> I’ve just read through quite a few of the messages in this thread (not
>  all, I admit) and there are a few things in here I should respond to.
> 
>  
> 
>> Actually, afaict Embarcadero have been absolutely silent on the
> 
>> matter.  The policy change has leaked out only via *some* resellers.
> 
>  
> 
> Nothing has leaked. Official announcements are coming, but I notified
> our Asia sales staff and asked them to notify our partners and customers
> last week so we could give people as much notice as possible (also for
> another reason, see the end of this email). I posted advance notice to
> the ADUG list here in Aus, and would have posted on this list except
> Richard asked if he could post it. As our local representative in NZ, it
> made sense to me that he do it. Nothing underhand going on.
> 
>  
> 
> Also, the reason I haven’t responded sooner is that I only check the
> lists every week or so, unless someone alerts me to something that needs
> more urgent attention.
> 
>  
> 
> Ø  I still feel cheated that at no time were those of us who bought
> Delphi 2005 which still has many unpatched major problems
> 
> Ø  given the opening to more reasonibly  ($) upgrade from it.
> 
>  
> 
> I’m sorry you feel like this, but this is not accurate. Multiple times a
> year we offer discounts/bundles/third-party value-adds, etc to
> upgraders. I’ve got a partial list here and it shows that since 2006 was
> released we’ve done at least 6 such offerings in NZ, and I haven’t
> bothered going through the rest of my email archive to see if there were
> more. Now, the offers we made may not have been enough to make you
> accept, that’s a separate issue, but saying we’ve made no offers to
> previous users is plainly wrong.
> 
>  
> 
> In terms of updates, we haven’t really changed our policy for a long
> time. Leaving aside people who pay for higher levels of support, we
> typically release update packs during the first 6-12 months of the
> product’s life (eg, 3 update packs for 2005, 2 update packs for 2006 +
> 11 hotfix packs, etc) but once a later version has come out, these
> typically slow down or stop entirely. That may not be what everybody
> wants, I appreciate that, but despite multiple attempts over the years
> it’s proven difficult if not impossible to get update packs for older
> releases on the schedule. So, despite wishing it were different, I doubt
> we’re going to be able to change that.
> 
>  
> 
> I’ve probably missed some questions, feel free to tell me if I have, but
> let me finish on a slightly more positive note.
> 
>  
> 
> In addition to giving people as much notice as possible, part of the
> point of letting people know about this change in advance is so that I
> could gauge the reaction.
> 
>  
> 
> Today we treat someone who last invested in a Delphi license 14 years
> ago with Delphi 1, exactly the same as someone who invested 1 year ago
> with 2009. I firmly believe we should give people who spent money with
> us recently some benefit, especially those who spent money with us
> during the years when you couldn’t have blamed them for keeping their
> wallet in their pocket. So, while I support the spirit of this change,
> the detail of where we draw the cutoff line is still a topic I think we
> can adjust. In talking with customers and staff and watching the
> discussions on various groups around the region and I think I’ve seen
> enough to go back to our internal discussion and suggest we need to
> change our current proposal. So, your feedback is being heard, despite
> what you might believe from some of the comments.
> 
>  
> 
> Lastly, can I just make a request for a fair go for the current
> Embarcadero team? We are well aware that we cannot ignore the “legacy”
> of decisions made by Borland Executives over the years, and we are
> trying extremely hard to walk the line of investing to take the product
> back above the historic levels of quality and innovation you came to
> expect, and at the same time keeping it a profitable business for our
> owners. I think the local team are very open to accommodating requests
> from customers when they are brought to us (I think I’ve approved most
> of the requests for special consideration I’ve seen in recent memory)
> and hopefully some of you have experienced that. I understand that some
> of you feel like you may have beaten your heads against a brickwall at
> Borland for too long, but can I just ask that if you have an issue, you
> bring it to us and see if we can work out a solution. If we can’t keep
> you happy, of course you should criticise us, but given everything that
> seems to have changed for the better over the last 12-15 months, I’d
> appreciate it if you could give us a chance to fix the issues before
> shooting us. My contact details are at the bottom of the email, you
> should absolutely feel free to use them.
> 
>  
> 
> I’ll try and take a more regular look at this thread for the next few days.
> 
>  
> 
> Cheers
> 
> Malcolm
> 
> * *
> 
> *Malcolm Groves
> Senior Director, Asia Pacific*
> Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. | www.embarcadero.com
> <http://www.embarcadero.com/>
> Level 2, 100 Clarence Street, Sydney, NSW 2000
> mgroves at embarcadero.com <mailto:mgroves at codegear.com>
> 
> Mobile: +61 416 264 204 | Skype: malcolmgroves
> 
> USA: (510) 962 5736 | UK: 020 3289 1788
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> 
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