Yo Mark,
Sorry, but I haven't heard about any OEM deal with HP -- but that is because I have been too busy to keep my ear to the ground. I do know that SYSF sales VPs and staff are on the road big time, spreading the word. You can't win with a great product unless you sell, sell, sell (DEC is a great example of a great technology company, that didn't/doesn't know how to sell!), so SYSF is on the ball.
I saw the System Wizard demo at the annual meeting, and it works like magic! I have called tech-support, been put on hold, got wrong advice, or been fobbed off to a bulletin board, and had to struggle for nearly an hour for the average PC hardware/software bug-fix. Joe-Schmo's don't stand a chance of wading through all that stuff.
With System Wizard, it resolves the problem with one or two non-technical non-threatening questions. If the local 10 MB db of problems + solutions doesn't have the fix, it asks you if it can go out on the web, and get the fix. It even pops up when an application dies or locks up, so the user-friendly design has been key. The fix takes less than a minute! Sure, what if the web is unreachable (for a variety of reasons), etc., but they need to solve just 10% of the PC problems for their earnings to jump. In reality, I am sure they will solve over 50% of the problems, no sweat.
I questioned their design engineers. They have had to do some pretty interesting engineering trade-offs in asking additional questions (narrowing the problem) and turning off the customer vs. fewer questions and staring at more possibilities.
Their solution is truly end-to-end with their Server (that is a repository of problems+solutions that a hw/sw company would maintain on the web with the latest problems/fixes) and Knowledge Builder (that is used to create the db of problems and fixes that sits on the Server) products.
Overall, I was very impressed at the comprehensive nature of the solution. They didn't think of this overnight. Being in the Card Wizard business has given them the right training /perspective. Other point solutions are not even close (and PTEC was not on the list of System Wizard competitors at the annual meeting)
Sure, the technology is there and others can eventually create another System Wizard, just as you can create a better OS than Windows, but who will buy it?
When companies start making bug-free hw/sw, System Wizard will go out of fashion. This product addresses a very real problem that isn't going away in a hurry.
I like their technology, and their attitude. This one is a winner. Keep us posted on that HP deal.
ajai |
