IBM is allergic to Microsoft – enough to not mention its name unless required by trademark law – but it is not about to walk away from the prospect of making money thanks to the fact that its former rival’s Windows 3.1, 95 and NT operating systems are not exactly the most stable or understandable programs on the planet. Hence, the new IBM Operational Support Services Support Line and Consult Line For Multivendor Software – which normal human beings would call help desk and technical support for Microsoft’s family of Windows operating systems. The Support Line offering, which is supplied through 800 telephone service and email, is designed to help end users deal with installing and using Windows operating systems. There are three levels of service – standard, premium and hourly support. Standard covers questions during normal business hours. The premium SupportLine offers support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Hourly customers only get billed for the time they use, but typical customers will probably save money by going with the standard plan. The standard Support Line covering all Microsoft Windows environments costs $20,000 a year; premium coverage costs $30,000. Those who want BackOffice support will have to cough up another $13,750 for standard coverage, another $15,000 for premium. Hourly support costs $170 during normal business hours, $230 during offshift hours.
By Timothy Prickett Morgan
The IBM Consult Line service is aimed at problem solving among Windows NT Server and BackOffice users. IBM’s NT experts will work remotely with NT shops to help them design, plan and install NT networks and applications; tune servers for better performance; assist with PC hardware and Windows software migrations; integrate NetWare NDS with NT file systems; and help customers move lock, clock and cable from NetWare to NT. The Consult Line is only offered on a standard basis (normal business hours) at a rate of $240 per hour per expert during normal hours, $324 per hour off-shift. While there is no question that these prices are almost certainly lower than the cost of getting, training and keeping NT nerds, IBM’s charges for tech support are still pretty steep. It is yet another sign that the computer business is maturing, just like banking and insurance and other industries. Where one upon a time customer service used to be an attitude, it is now a profit center.
