Tony (and others?),
We here at Physical Plant have our own Warranty Parts Direct 'account',
quite separate from the MSU account. We do our own support through our
own WPD contract/account. I and a colleague are the two required WPD
techs for our organization (Physical Plant), although I, in fact, do all
of the WPD processing. Dell's position on this is that they want to be
assured that if a WPD 'certified' tech isn't available in an
organization (illness, vacation, whatever), another WPD certified tech
is still available to process WPD requests.
The U's Dell account executive, Frank Krieber, can work with you to help
set things up so that you can have an independent WPD account for your
business unit - that's what we did.
Frank can be reached via email at [log in to unmask], and via cell
phone at (734) 730-3182.
Regards,
John Fishbeck
MSU Physical Plant Computer Systems and Networking Group
Phone: 2-2028
-----Original Message-----
From: MSU Network Administrators Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Cooke, Tony
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2005 11:00 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MSUNAG] Alternatives to Dell destops
I'm curious about the "two tech minimum" and any limitations on how many
systems that must be owned. Frankly, I'm of the opinion that the
"organization" should be "MSU", and not the particular college or
department, to which everyone (the technical folks anyways) on campus
would qualify. Just because someone is the sole tech for their unit of
200 computers doesn't mean that they shouldn't qualify. It seems like
this would be an inherent advantage of being part of the larger whole.
Does anyone have info on this angle of it? I'd be happy to get a hold of
our sales rep and ask questions for the group (if I wouldn't be stepping
on toes), but the more background information I have the better.
Thanks,
Tony Cooke
Information Technology Services
The Eli Broad College of Business
Michigan State University
(517) 353-1646
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: MSU Network Administrators Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Fishbeck, John
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2005 10:42 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MSUNAG] Alternatives to Dell destops
Folks -
The Dell self-service program you're interested in is called 'Warranty
Parts Direct' (used to be called 'Premier Access').
I happen to think it is a terrific program. We diagnose our own
problems, then I go to a Dell WPD web site, log on with my Dell-provided
WPD user id, enter the service tag (system identifier) for the system at
issue, fill out an online form to order the needed replacement part, and
- badda-bing, badda-boom - next morning the replacement part is in my
hands.
Nothing's perfect. The program is not free, but not unreasonable,
either. Dell requires two people to be 'certified' WPD techs, and it
costs $160/yr per person to subscribe to the program. And, you have to
take these silly, 25 multiple-choice question, online systems knowledge
tests each year for each systems category you want to participate in.
Annoying, but hardly a show-stopper. The one fee covers as many systems
categories as you want to be qualified ('certified') for - desktops,
laptops, servers, etc...
In short, I find the pluses far outweigh the minuses.
Info on the program is available at
http://warrantypartsdirect.dell.com/us/ . In addition, I'd be glad to
answer questions from people who are potentially interested.
Regards,
John Fishbeck
MSU Physical Plant Computer Systems and Networking Group
Phone: 2-2028
-----Original Message-----
From: MSU Network Administrators Group [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Peter J Murray
Sent: Thursday, July 28, 2005 10:30 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [MSUNAG] Alternatives to Dell destops
Please CC this information to the list. I'd like to join this program
too.
David McFarlane wrote:
> Tony,
>
>> I'm sure it helps that we're Dell Certified shop
>
>
> How do you get that status?? It would make a ***HUGE*** difference to
> my satisfaction with Dell if I didn't have to jump through their hoops
> every time I called tech support.
>
>
> -- David McFarlane, Research Technology Specialist
> Dept. Psychology, Michigan State University
> [log in to unmask] www.msu.edu/~mcfarla9
> Voice: (517) 353-0799 Fax: (517) 353-1652
