My earlier post on the Workplace purchase experience garnered some interesting feedback, not the least of which was Ed’s post. My response:
- Why didn’t I join PartnerWorld? I wanted to buy the software because that’s typically what customers do, and I think that doing so gives a clearer picture of what the purchase and support process– both of which have a significant impact on customers’ satisfaction with a product– looks like for a real customer.
- Yes, there’s a live showcase available, but that’s cheating in a way. It’s like watching Norm Abram build a dresser in 30 minutes; you see the end result, but many of the most significant, painful, and/or expensive milestones are glossed over.
- Pricing: well, what can I say? Every major vendor I’ve ever worked at or with (including Microsoft, Apple, IBM, Intergraph, Oracle, and VERITAS) have a hard time figuring out what their direct-to-customer pricing is for various products. This is a nit more than anything. However, I’m still unhappy that I was first quoted $24/seat for the Workplace rich client, only to have that price zoom up to $129/seat when I actually attempted to close the deal. So, a question for Ed: if I want one license of Workplace Messaging, Team Collaboration, and Documents, with the rich client, what’s the correct price?
Paul's Down-Home Page 
Suggested volume prices, Passport Advantage level BL (basic list):
Workplace Messaging 2.0 – There was a special promotion in effect until 31-Dec-04, so let’s ignore that. Now, US$29 per user for license and one year maintenance/support.
Workplace Team Collaboration 2.0 – US$89 for license and one year maintenance/support.
Workplace Documents 2.0 – Functionality is a subset of Workplace Team Collaboration. One wouldn’t likely buy both Documents and Team Collaboration.
IBM Workplace client technology 2.0 – US$24 annual subscription. Not a standard Passport Advantage part number at this time; contact your IBM sales representative for details.
As explained in e-mail and previous comments, I’m not sure why you would have been ONLY quoted the rich client’s pricing when you first enquired. I just pulled these prices from the standad IBM Distributed Software Price List: Americas (which happens to be a Notes database), which is the tool every IBM / IBM.COM salesperson should be using to quote prices.
Well, like I said, that pricing came directly from my rep. From our email exchange, you have her contact information, so perhaps she can explain. She did mention that she had IMed her Lotus pricer to get the prices she sent me, so perhaps she’s using a different process than you expected.