HPE Storage Users Group

Situation - 3Par 8200 - running 3.2.2
With 3.2.2, we are depending on 3Par service for patch and upgrade.

We've been getting the run around, and 3Par-SPS team can't get their schedules straight. We have two arrays, with very similar SN (the difference between a *92 and a *93), and they get them confused about when one was upgraded or wasn't.

I send email 3 weeks prior to the maintenance window to schedule an upgrade, and get an acknowledgement. I don't hear anything else. When I contact them a week before the date, I get told they "don't have anyone available. Please schedule your upgrade 12 business days before" - WTF? I contacted you 15 days prior!

Anyone else seeing a drop off in HPE-3Par support?

You must be new, we have got used to HP terrible support. I have countless examples, and agree that the upgrade scheduling experience is overall the worse.

I've had similar issues twice before. The result, I run my own upgrades for what I can. Eventually I'll get stuck between two patches and need to have them run some non-publish scripts.

Really wish they would fix the customer maintained aspect of the product.

My impression is that this is status quo. You can never be too early to secure yourself a upgrade slot with SPS team and it's been this way forever. The mix-up is probably just human error which do happen from time to time

However it isn't good that they drop the ball and don't give you a date on the first contact... They do (or at least did) advertise 8 hour response time in the signature on my last upgrade.

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The views and opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my current or previous employers.

I often have to get various sales and customer service contacts involved when the email black holes turn up, once I have direct contact with the person doing the work (typically a day or two before it's scheduled) we can normally sort out the mix ups and the actual events are usually well implemented. However that's not really what I'd expect from the 'enterprise' service charges.

I get the impression the 3.3.1+SP5 developments are looking to build in more automated/customer upgrade processes but I'd still like to have an experienced person on the line for major OS/MU updates, if I can get hold of one.

We have also been offered onsite updates with the local technical teams, something I'd not seen since the 3PAR days, might look into that on the next round but probably not for brand new releases as I wouldn't think the local teams will have had as much experience with the new releases as the online teams.

My experience with local technicians doing the upgrades is that they're given instructions from the remote team and have a remote person available during the upgrade. If someone was to come without that for a production array I would probably tell him to leave. So I assume that they provide the same amount of experience, but you have the ability to see the person eye to eye during and after the upgrade. I consider the remote people to be more faithful towards the standardized process, while the local guy is able to see the bigger picture. Best of both worlds

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The views and opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of my current or previous employers.

PAR for the course... yes, that is the running joke around here for years. Expect more of the same. Over-document, over-CC sales people and managers, and assume you will be lied to, forgotten and misled. They refuse to improve quality of support or firmware releases. Outsource to the cheapest bidder, and make the customers "pay" for it in the long-run.