The Gordian Knot

SirsiDynix’s strategy at the moment is a little like the recent American Airlines promotion on Rome: Taste, see, watch, with large dash of Frenzy. At least AA has a 2.0-ey website with all the interactive tools our patrons want! AA describes the video of Rome as “fast and funny”. It is midly entertaining until you realize that this is an American view, and sadly reflects many American stereotypes and misunderstandings. Can miscommunication be humorous? Maybe.

The recent OZSDUG meeting, more carefully cited yesterday by David King, and the post from GlowWorm a few days earlier, have really given me pause as to how to best describe the meeting and the situation. As my husband said, you can’t really be serious, you’re not at a loss for words are you???

These are measured words. I can’t get excited about the hype. I told Jim Wilson, VP of SirsiDynix and one of the original founders of Dynix, and said, “I wanted to sit through this OZSDUG meeting and say nothing and make you worry about what I am thinking.” Of course, I didn’t make it past about 5 minutes without raising my hand. I share some of the same passion that Jim has at heart. Which makes it even sadder to see Jim and colleagues seek our understanding and affirmations of loyalty, touting an imperfect solution. We can hardly wait to see what effect OZSDUG will have on the next version of original cowboy poetry that Jim pens (which, actually, was very good, and so good that we could enjoy it and laugh!)

Points I gleaned from the presentations:

• 8.0 was not bad, just not ready
• Vista basically asked the hard question, “Why do you have two systems?”
• Product Management folks from Sirsi and Dynix have learned to play well together, and have been upgrading Unicorn with 8.x-like functionality all along. (Do we believe that?)
• Why should we believe in any promises of SirsiDynix? “No. You should not believe any of our promises. Go see. Go look. Move when you are ready.” [Jim Wilson]
• The lack of movement on a selection of a CEO: “the washing machine is still spinning” [a customer] — was not addressed, but signaled significant red flags to the customers present.
• “I still have it in my heart to do so”; i.e., create the best system possible for our customers [Jim Wilson]
• “We will not announce an end of life for at least four years for Horizon; when end of life is announced, we will support for two more years.”
• It is the intent of the company to try to certify to Sybase 15 for Sybase Horizon customers.
• Regarding the findings of the Gartner report, “Many things are incorporated into the new 3.1 Unicorn that were recommended in the Gartner report, including APIs.”
• “The release time line is more important than the functionality incorporated into the release.” [a SirsiDynix sales rep, not present at this meeting]. Discussion revolved around trying to deliver cleanly and on time, so in essence, this would appear to be true.
• 8.x had scaling problems for the largest sites; didn’t play well with thin client; servers being quoted were too substantial (unaffordable for small sites, and large enough to support “whole third world countries”); parity in functionality was still missing.
• Dynix Classic, and Horizon, in general, cannot be end-of-lifed because they have too many people on it. “We do not have enough people to do it” [the migration]. This led to concerns about the severe impact on Unicorn Client Care performance if Horizon and Classic libraries are moved over to Unicorn.
• Acq data and serials data (patterns) can be migrated to Unicorn; however, later, it was suggested that if you are looking for Acq and Serials functionality, you wait for migration until additional functionality is added to Unicorn.
• Wireless network support people were ones let go recently with discontinuation of that service emphasis.

Jeff Schilling, national sales rep for EPS/Rooms, presented a fast overview of EPS and Rooms capabilities. I have to give Jeff credit, I finally saw a fire of passion in him as he came alive in the presence of the Rare Book Room at Linda Hall Library. What was rather revealing, however, later, in user discussions after the SirsiDynix people had left, was that *no one* in the room had yet implemented EPS on the Unicorn side of the family. Are there reasons why? I understand the limited applicability of Rooms (”the academics won’t like them”), but what is holding sites back from implementing EPS? The age of the design? The overabundance of text? Not 2.0-ey enough? Too complicated to administer? Price? If this is the portal of the future, how is it that midwestern users haven’t raced to embrace it? Or is EPS, too, going to fall by the wayside? How does the VAR relationship with LifeRay dovetail into the EPS application?

After lunch, Scott McCausland presented [”I’ve got 183 slides and I’m not afraid to use them.”] Given that Scott is Eastern Sales (and last time I looked Kansas wasn’t “east”), but wrote the contracts for most of us when he earlier represented the Midwest Sales Region, he outlined future needs and desires of libraries and the company, touching briefly on the HTML web client and faceted and visual searching in screen shots.

Scott wrapped up the SirsiDynix presentation portion of the meeting, asking for feedback on what else libraries need or desire beyond “The ILS, … the tip of the iceberg.” This is where the question of Stephen Abram’s influence on the company came into play, where the “fine line” exists between the SirsiDynix Institute and the ILS side of the company. Kudos to David Pattern for reading correctly inbetween the lines: if Abram can have a list of what should be in Rome, shouldn’t each customer? And shouldn’t the company be listening to the customers even more than Abram?

This led to additional comments on the absolutely abysmal efforts to communicate with directors, administrators, and particularly the 8.x sites over the last three months. SirsiDynix web site design, availability of material, accuracy of current contact (sales) and data, and complete disarray of information was noted. Incomprehensible Rome product comparison documentation was also mentioned. Scott emphasized the Rome Webinars, and continued efforts to take Enhancements from both Unicorn and Horizon enhancement databases. Customers suggested needs and continued interest in touch-screen technology for both opac, staff, and patron empowerment interfaces.

Scott spoke for all four SirsiDynix folks attending, saying they draw strength from attending regional meetings such as OZSDUG. You can’t not go to a meeting and realize how much strength is needed to get through a user meeting. Participants as well as presenters are exhausted at the end of it all. Scott mentioned the upcoming joint UUGI/CODI conference in 2009. All present know the strengths of CODI and UUGI. How do we, as customers, convey to a company [disorganized and inattentive in its current state], that the reason they exist as a company is solely as a result of the customers they *keep* [happy]?

After SirsiDynix personnel departed, the Unicorn and Dynix/Horizon folks hung out together rather than separately. Discussion included:

• Sirsi and Dynix user interests are converging. Group agreed that continued joint meetings under the OZSDUG umbrella were useful, and distinctly useful enough to not necessary be absorbed in the larger regional UUGI structure. Geographically this may push OZSDUG meetings further north in to the KC Metro area partly due to size of meeting rooms, but certainly we have more in common than more to separate us.
• Company should (dare I say, MUST) listen to the user groups, CODI and UUGI both. To ignore CODI, and ignore their organizational independence, will put the company at peril. If the company does not understand this, the company will lose customers. UUGI members present acknowleged that an independent user group is preferable, and that both groups need to continue to lobby their Boards for the best possible solutions and relationships with the company.
• Discussions of the company’s lack of communication and disarray, and what that means to all sites present.
• Discussions on the slowness of the GL3.1 Java client, and how further development of 8x features could impact this problem. Discussions on impact of Client Care, and various support techniques of skirting the problems. What is the true cost of customer service, particularly if it is done poorly?
• Several Unicorn “refreshes” (may or may not correspond to releases) have been added since incorporation of TAOS-functionality; similarly, the last 4-5 “scrums” added Horizon functionality, at least since Talin Bingham’s tenure with the company. Unicorn customers did acknowledge much better patch clusters and much more solid releases in the last year or more.
• Mention of the regional SMUG meeting, coming up July 26-27 in Bellevue, Nebraska.
• Mickey Coalwell of NEKLS (Lawence, Kansas) graciously volunteered to organize a venue and presentation for another meeting later this summer.

Finally, peppered throughout yesterday and today on the Horizon-l Listserv, the efforts of the company, however needed, misguided, or philanthropic the intention might be, to survey its users. It’s too early to tell which is worse: the quality of the interns/telephone support reps whose job it is to contact us, or the state of the customer data that they are being asked to review with us. Further comments today include admissions from the interviewers, who, when asked “‘why [are you] ask[ing] if libraries were searching for other ILS systems?’, he replied that they are no longer asking that question. He admitted it was not pertinent and was really none of their business.” (Thanks, Ruth!) So I guess the company thinks we’re all looking at other systems!

I can only sum up OZSDUG with another key David Pattern-ism (thanks, David!)

h3y d00dz - 4r3 y0u 7h!nk!ng 0f upgr4d!ng y0ur !1$ $y$73m !n 7h3 n3×7 7hr33 y34r$?

How we answer this question, and in whatever dialect, is the choice that confronts both Unicorn and Dynix users. Do we Blog? Shout? Complain? Or vote with our feet? Maybe some day we’ll laugh. Maybe not today.

“And then we need a bullet in the back of 8.0.” Well, the bullet was delivered. 8.0 is dead. After a day of wild speculation, it’s the morning after. We are only beginning, as sysadmins, to fully understand the implications of this decision and the impact on our institutions. I am not usually the person with my head to the railroad track hearing the commotion down the line and around the bend. What I heard by the end of day was enough to really cause me to wonder.

I’d like to say thanks to the individuals who collectively work and have worked at the company formerly known as Dynix, especially those who have poured their heart and soul into bringing 8.0 to life.

I’d like also to say thanks to former CODI members who came out of the woodwork yesterday to offer support and a kind word. We have a saying at Pitt State, “once a Gorilla, always a Gorilla” (of course, what else can you say when your mascot is a Gorilla!?). I think the same applies to CODI. The people that made target practice of 8.0 probably are jingling more spare bullets in their pocket to shoot off at whatever else gets in their way. I believe CODI members have enough sense about them to take the higher road without much prompting. Kudos to our current Board members in particular. We may be forced to change products and vendors, but we will always be CODI members first and foremost.

“This is a business decision.” Yup, I agree. And probably, given the nature of said business decision, businesses like these have no business in the library.

“Get real. It’s all about 2.0.” You know, I guess it’s all a big game, but the last time I checked, avatars do not pay my salary. Avatars do not assist my library patrons. And avatars do not run my library system.

Today we pick up the pieces. I wish the Unicorn folks well. You’ll like 8.0, I’m honestly glad you’re getting it in a Rome manifestation. Goodness needs to be shared.

See you all on the high road, wherever it leads.

�

At the risk of jeopardizing my relationship with some of the people who have bailed out my migration considerably in the last two to three weeks, I attended the “Time to Migrate” session in hopes of hearing a little good news. Sadly, the process for 8x libraries is still largely stuck in a 7x format, with no real evidence of any learning curve or modification of the migration project management structure for 8x issues, setup, or complexities.

The Project Managers are that: detail oriented people with project management skills who are not responsible for the state of the project, the code, the flaws, the delays. They are human beings doing their best to be messengers delivering, frequently, bad news.

I would encourage those who are in migration states at the moment to really press those project managers for a clearer understanding of the 8x process, which is just simply NOT 7x, only a little more complicated. The session was useful to understand how much more needs to be done before more libraries make the plunge off the deep end to 8x. If indeed “This is your system, your path to success”, as Judith Tigner said, it would be great if it felt a little better at the library end doing it. “The key is communication between the project team and the library”, as B rian Hutchins has said, is absolutely true, no argument from me about this. The missing piece appears to be the communication in the company to the migration teams as to what is possible and what is not. Even after working with 8+ betas and a few others now gearing up, the process for the 8x sites still seems very vague and trying to use a 7x model of “upgrade”. If 120 days is the typical timeline for an 8x site, I want to shake the hands of the first 8x site that achieves this.

Those currently in a migration state should demand significantly more accountability, including the ability to log their issues in logx and keep track of them in a mutually dynamic setting to see what both sides are achieving in a step-by-step process. We may drown in setup, but we do not want to drown in emails, notes, and spreadsheets.

Sandwiched between two stormy days, twenty-six people met on Tuesday, March 28, 2006 in Pittsburg, KS for OZDUG (Ozarks Dynix User Group) Regional meetings. Presenters included Jim Taylor, of JTData.Com in the morning, and Bill Routt and Steve Orton, Regional Sales Contacts for the South Central and “Mid-Atlantic” regions of Sirsi-Dynix in the afternoon. At least, that’s the region we think Steve is representing, since he’s the Missouri rep, although the folks in Missouri are rather amused that the Mid-Atlantic region appears to reach to the easternmost borders of Kansas! (Do we dare ask “where’s the beach??!) And since poor Steve’s name doesn’t really even make the map, and the map really isn’t on the web site, and very few SD system administrators or directors have even seen the map or know it exists, it’s hard to say what the state of sales is. They’re lovely people and we thank them for coming to see us, but things are in a bit of disarray, we think!

Jim Taylor, who provides value-added products that other customers readily use, provided information on his JTACQ, JTURL, JTDataEntry, and JTMail programs. Jim brought along son Jonathan, who was by far the youngest member of OZDUG to ever sit through a meeting attentively!

Valerie Chase, graciously presented by speakerphone and gave us an overview of the expanded reports now included in WebReporter. The announcement on March 30, 2006 of the release of WebReporter 1.4, while extremely welcome, still raises questions regarding server specifications for it. A handout, provided by sales staff, brought a resounding “thud” to the proceedings as attendees tried to figure out the relationship between the feature designations for “reporter”, “analyst”, and “professional” functionality (dated, by the way, November 14, 2003) and their relation to pricing which was described in terms of “light”, “medium”, and “super”. Yellow highlighting, we decided, just meant these were the most expensive options that the company wanted you to buy! We hope that this particular handout goes back to the drawing board quickly, because while it attempted to address the training packages and licensing, it, in fact, confused us more and managed to completely ignore server specifications.

We were happy to hear that 1.4 would support CSV formated files, and that Narrowcast is now included in all basic packages. SQL gurus were also pleased to see the ability to use free-form SQL statements within the 1.4 functionality.

Server specifications were also lacking for HIP 4.x. We understand that benchmarking has not been completed, but the time frame needed to budget and purchase new HIP servers is not a fast process, causing chaos in the heartland.

Other discussion included where the ISBN-13 hotfix is for classic sites, where the ISBN-13 patch for Horizon sites not on 7.4 is, where the benchmarking for 8.x is, the need for 24×7 support, and the inability to get to a real person and get past the front-line support to a real person who can solve the issue in a timely fashion.

Two philosophical questions were asked, without a real sense of answer, that is, 1) are Dynix reps/developers/support staff allowed/encouraged to attend the librarian meetings at events such as PLA and ALA, or are they severely limited in their ability to attend sessions, see other products, ideas, mingle, and speak with librarians in the profession; and 2) What has become of Jack Blount’s plan several years ago to ensure that staff get “out of the office and into the library” and visit sites, work front desks, and experience library issues on a day-to-day basis in order to improve the work flow and functionality of the software.

Another issue was the amount of communication — on the updates of functionality, software delivery, new products, future products, server specifications, budgeting awareness, training — and the group was sorely disappointed in the amount and quality of communication from the company as a whole. Two members went so far as to rate the company on a scale of 0-10, with 10 being highest, as a “3″ and as a “1″. Which is a shame, really, as there are some wonderful people who work for the company, and who can (and frequently do) assist SirsiDynix customers are great deal in their daily work.

Issues with setup and the “migration” to 8.0 for existing Horizon clients is also a big unknown. This, coupled with both the uncertainty of the delivery date of 8.0/8.1 and the quality of the release functionality for 8.0/8.1 has really left people in a quandry. We did learn one finite fact, that Debt Collect would not be available until at least 8.1.

While the group greatly appreciated the afternoon allotment of time from SirsiDynix reps, and Valerie’s conference call time, the company must realize that when the majority of regional attendees must drive anywhere from 2-5 hours to attend these meetings, we do expect people to be physically present at the meetings and find the prospect of driving for several hours to stare at a speakerphone not the optimum communication experience. We sincerely hope the inability to schedule regular regional meetings or provide presenters of expertise “in the flesh” does not develop into a company trend.

All SirsiDynix presenters should be keenly aware that with Webex, with WebReporter, with any demo of any sort, please SIZE THE FONTS UP. The screen shots mean nothing if the person standing 10 feet away from the projection screen can’t read it. The only thing being worse having to drive 5 hours to listen to someone on a speakerphone is having to sit through a demonstration where you cannot read the details on the screen.

If you participate in other regional meetings and wish to post your comments, thoughts, about them, please drop me a note — this is not meant to supercede the great site set up at http://www.codi.org/newusersgroups.html, but perhaps will provide a way to get more reactions or comments out and about…

Webex Training Pros and Cons:

As the Cass District Library migrates from Classic Dynix to Horizon, one of the major problems that we have encountered is adequate training. Our agreement with SirsiDynix includes a coupon for “unlimited” Webex sessions until the end of December. There is almost no onsite training, or “Provo based training.”

This has been a big problem for us. I would like to talk about the pros and cons of Webex training.

Pros:
Training can be done from anywhere with:

1. Broadband Internet Connection
2. A dedicated phone line (speaker phone for multi-person session.)
3. A space to do this training.

For SirsiDynix the advantages are:

1. No travel expense
2. Can do several sights simultaneously
3. Can “standardize” instruction.

Cons:
1. As a small library, we have an unreliable Internet connection. I have been unable to take some of the important classes because we have had Internet problems.
2. The classes are not offered often enough. (two weeks ago, I was unable to take the security classes due to my Internet problems….since then, the class has not been reoffered.)
3. The instructor is often reduced to “the lowest common denominator.” If you happen to be in a session with several other institutions, the problem of others who have:

a. Technical problems
b. Limited familiarity of the software
c. Little technical expertise

can make the session next to useless. In fact, we have had sessions that ended several hours early because the problems encountered during the session were so severe.

I have also encountered sessions where other participants were not tech savvy, and had no understanding of the Webex product.

This is a big problem. Time is wasted and folks at the more tech savvy locations are frustrated by listening to the conversations between the trainer and the less advanced customers.

Technorati Tags: Webex, Sirsi-Dynix, Distance Training

My name is Kevin Smith and I write the Fiddling Librarian blog. I am also the assistant director of the Cass District Library in Southwest Lower Michigan. We are about to migrate from Classic Dynix and WebPAC to Horizon 7.4 and HIP 4.?. I will be posting here about what I learn during the migration process. Our go live date is November 10th, so wish us luck.