Does anyone use RAND Worldwide for Pro-E tech support?

[mvollmers]

Hi, all. Got a general question. Our management has been looking at using Rand for our pro-e tech support, switching from ptc directly. They claim to have great support, etc, etc, but I was just wondering if anyone is currently using them. We were using them years ago, and they were not very useful then (that would be around version 17-18, I guess). I would hope that this has since changed, but would like some verification before shelling out money. Any thoughts (good or bad) would be welcome. Thanks.

 

[kvision]

You already get free tech support from PTC via your maintenance agreement. To switch to RAND at a cost would be a waste. PTC has many good and bad points but no more than RAND. I have found most Rand contacts I have been involved with to be somewhat less knowledgable than PTC. That's not to say they don't have some bright people. As with most things in this world you must get to the right people and theres no list. You are statistically more likely to run into a knowledgable PTC tech rep than a Rand rep just based on corporate size and after all PTC does make the software.

 

[biff]

I have been told that Rand Worldwide are no longer resellers for PTC.



I do not know if this is true or not!!!!!!!!!!



I would check this out with PTC first!

 

[Tunalover]

Based on my three-year experience using RAND, I recommend you go with PTC. The RAND engineers, although well-trained and well-intended, don't have the depth of knowledge to solve hard problems; there simply aren't enough of them to allow specialization.



Plus, if you ask them Pro/Detail questions, most don't have a clue about real world drafting issues (is that different from PTC? I don't know).

 

[biff]

I beleive that Rand are no longer partners of PTC!



You should confirm this with PTC themselves!



I have my maintenance package with PTC and to be honest I have had very good service from them to date!



If you place a request with PTC they will supply you with a list of resellers for your area or country.

 

[mvollmers]

Thanks for the input. guys. The reason that I asked was that, first off, they were offering a big discount in tech support for using Rand instead of PTC. However, PTC has been really pushing, from what I hear, all the small accounts (<100 million revenue, so I hear) to people like Rand. In general, I have not heard from my sales rep for nearly a year, he was switched like three times , and blew me off last time I wanted a demo. So it sounds like we were being pushed in that direction anyway, I just wanted to see what I was getting myself into. Thanks.

 

[phatty70]

We use RAND for our trainging needs. I've taken training sessions with rand and PTC. I like RAND much better for training. The information is presented more logically. Not to mention, there books make sense when you get back to the office. If you need to look something up, it's very easy to follow along with thte books from RAND. The PTC books are worthless.



We still use PTC for tech support.

 

[miked]

They are still selling ptc products.

I have never had ptc for support its always been Rand.

I have noticed that for installation issues they are good but for anything that requires experience they suck. They just quote from a book or from somebodies notes. For anything complicated its quicker to post a question to the prouser exploder.

Mike

 

[mcgowanp]

I have used both RAND and PTC. RAND has been removed from PTC's Partner list, and in my mind thats a good thing. My experience of RAND are that they do not provie good services. They promise plenty but NEVER deliver on the goods. We have over the last six months moved to PTC, this has started things moving in our company, and PTC are driving most it!!!



Paddy

 

[adicar01]

for any third party company used for support, is same problem. If in your area they have expert people or not.

You must try to negociate one month free for see the reaction. And in that month, man ... make them life like hell )). If u are satifyed then swich, if not ...



In my area some people have bad experience with Rand.

 

[mvollmers]

well, just to give an update. We've used them a few times since we've switched. It's okay, but not great. little irratating to get through in their phone system. but since we're a smaller company, we really don't have the option to use PTC directly. When I was looking for RAND, PTC must have given my name to three other third party resellers, all of whom tried to get me to use them for maintenence. I'd prefer to use PTC directly, but unless if you have hundreds of licenses, it seems like you get treated like dirt by sales and licensing (tech support has always been nice, though). Plus, we got a good deal pricewise, and so we'll just deal with the rest, I guess.



Mark