SDL Multiterm Team 2007: Advice conc. purchase of a SDL product that doesn't work Thread poster: Peter Adolph
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Peter Adolph
Local time: 19:33
Member (2006)
English to Danish
+ ...
Hi everybody
[Not sure if this is the right forum to post this topic?]
After considering pros/cons compared to the local client version of Multiterm I finally decided to buy Multiterm Team back in January 2008 (I run a small company); the cost was EUR 4,500. When I tried to install it, I found out that I was not able to, even after having followed the installation guide to the point. I tried to call their hotline to get help with the installation, but they said I shoul... See more Hi everybody
[Not sure if this is the right forum to post this topic?]
After considering pros/cons compared to the local client version of Multiterm I finally decided to buy Multiterm Team back in January 2008 (I run a small company); the cost was EUR 4,500. When I tried to install it, I found out that I was not able to, even after having followed the installation guide to the point. I tried to call their hotline to get help with the installation, but they said I should submit a support ticket which I did, but that still didn't help.
After a busy period, where I didn't have the energy to struggle with this problematic installation, I tried to get contact with SDL again, and the first thing the sales rep (this was a new one, as the former one had been transferred to another product area) said to me was that I should buy a service and maintenance agreement to get help from them. I told her that this was not a requirement when I bought the product, and after discussing with her manager she came back and offered to have their technical team look at my problems. A technician then spent time (together with my external IT consultant and myself) on accessing our network remotely and trying to find out of why Multiterm Team doesn't work; he had full access, and we supported him in any way he needed. But the product never worked on all five PCs at the same time. I've now given up and would like SDL to either make the product work here and now or pay me my money back (which is what I think is the most logical solution as they obviously cannot make it work).
It looks like the sales rep either didn't know the requirements for Multiterm Team or that he forgot to mention to me that it was a requirement that I also bought the installation from them. I was never asked what network environment I had, I was never told that I needed this and that server/PC/software or anything the like. I've spent way too much time on this issue, and I am really annoyed about it, in particular because it is a lot of money to waste.
I've asked friends working in the IT industry, and their view is clearly that either the supplier makes the tool work or the supplier pays the money back (if they cannot make the tool work).
I agreed with the new sales rep to have a meeting (with her and the former sales rep) here in CPH tomorrow before a roadshow they're doing, but now she wants to postpone it until end of the week.
Has anyone a similar experience, either with the product itself or with SDL?
Kind regards,
Peter ▲ Collapse
| | | | | It simply doesn't work... | Oct 12, 2009 |
Peter Fl. Adolph wrote:
Has anyone a similar experience, either with the product itself or with SDL? [/quote]
Yes.
MT Team simply doesn't work.
It's incompatible with some not so recent security related MS patches.
But you can share standard MT Desktop termbases over the LAN, it's little bit tricky but it's perfectly possible
Detailed posts will follow (sorry, a lot of work today).
Cheers
GG
| | | | | Free installation support | Oct 12, 2009 |
Hi Peter,
AFAIK, you are eligible for free support on installation and licensing issues. This is at least the case for freelance desktop products and I would be amazed if it were not the case for much more expensive software.
If I were at your place, I would, however, definitely consider purchasing a PSMA. Although the installation support should be free, you can always expect some problems when running a server product, so it might be a good choice for you.
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Peter Fl. Adolph wrote:
Not sure if this is the right forum to post this topic?
Of course.
You can also repost it on TW_users on yahoogroups.
Just subscribe.
Your audience will be larger.
Cheers
GG
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Peter Adolph
Local time: 19:33
Member (2006)
English to Danish
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
thx, Greg, for making me aware of the Yahoo group. Never used it before, but have now submitted the same posting there.
Reg. MT Team working or not, I think it's quite symptomatic that their own supporter is unable to make it work in my network; I mean, he had the full access to everything, and it still was a problem to him.
Stan:
Installation help should be free, yes in principle, yet the new sales rep wrote to me 'Normally when Multiterm Team is sold it is wi... See more thx, Greg, for making me aware of the Yahoo group. Never used it before, but have now submitted the same posting there.
Reg. MT Team working or not, I think it's quite symptomatic that their own supporter is unable to make it work in my network; I mean, he had the full access to everything, and it still was a problem to him.
Stan:
Installation help should be free, yes in principle, yet the new sales rep wrote to me 'Normally when Multiterm Team is sold it is with installation and that would normally be done by our professional services team ... The reason is that MT Team is a complex technical product'. In the next paragraph, she says I have to buy a PSMA in order to get their help.
The former sales rep did not tell me it was a 'complex technical product' and that purchase of a PSMA was compulsory in order to get the product installed and up and running.
...
peter ▲ Collapse
| | | | | MT Team vs other SDL server software | Oct 12, 2009 |
Peter Fl. Adolph wrote:
The former sales rep did not tell me it was a 'complex technical product' and that purchase of a PSMA was compulsory in order to get the product installed and up and running. [/quote]
He was somehow right.
Indeed, unlike other SDL server products, Multiterm Team may be purchased without compulsory PSMA agreement.
It's because it's supposed to be easy to set up (unlike the "full size" server environments based on SQL servers).
Sorry for partial responses, I'm in hurry...
Cheers
GG
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Peter Fl. Adolph wrote:
Installation help should be free, yes in principle, yet the new sales rep wrote to me 'Normally when Multiterm Team is sold it is with installation and that would normally be done by our professional services team ... The reason is that MT Team is a complex technical product'. In the next paragraph, she says I have to buy a PSMA in order to get their help.
peter
So, does that mean you have purchased MT Team at a lower price without the installation? If this is true, I'm afraid you are trapped.
If you purchased MT Team at full price, I'm not sure what the SDL rep. is pointing to. Nevertheless, if the developer can't make the product work, I would seriously consider asking for full refund. But I don't know the full background of the problem, so it is hard to make any judgements.
[Upraveno: 2009-10-12 12:24 GMT]
| | | | | Sharing MT Desktop termbases over the LAN... | Oct 12, 2009 |
But you can share standard MT Desktop termbases over the LAN, it's little bit tricky but it's perfectly possible
In fact, it's very simple.
1) you select a master user who will be responsible for all the administrative tasks (mainly termbase creation/deletion).
2) the master user creates the termbases over the LAN (on a shared drive, all the users must access this drive using the same drive letter)
3) after every major administrative operation (termbase creation/deletion) the data from the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SDL International\MultiTerm\Termbases on the master user PC should be propagated to the same directory on the "client" computers.
It's all.
It's not perfect, sometimes it may be annoying (e.g. the word lists are not refreshed on the fly) but it works.
I don't remember exactly all the quirks, in fact, I dropped Multiterm in my core workflows because of it's unreliability.
It's a pain because, in theory, it's the most advanced terminology management tool in this segment of the market but the implementation is simply a shame.
The most funny part of the story is the MT desktop termbase sharing is perfectly legal (no software code is modified, no explicit prohibition of termbase sharing), it's just an unwanted and undocumented feature.
Cheers
GG
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| Problems with MultiTerm? Are you kidding? | Oct 12, 2009 |
Has anyone a similar experience, either with the product itself or with SDL?
Are you kidding?
I do sympathize with your problems, but one quick glance through the threads in this forum and many other ones would have shown you that half the translating world has problems with SDL and their products.
They keep piling function upon function onto a basically flawed product and are not putting the proper support resources in place. As long as we all keep gullibly buying that crap that's unlikely to change much, though, isn't it?
Sorry about the rant. Make sure to get your money back and study the market for a professional solution is my advice.
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