AT&T is so far behind on infrastructure and trying to do workarounds to try and get decent throughput on it...

They are about $3B - $4B behind what they should be in infrastructure. They aren't adding aggregation links soon enough or often enough... This makes it an EVEN worse thing. as VLANs are then carried over alternate routes and causes huge lag to the first hop (the DSLAM Headend).

Yet in certain places they have BLAZING speeds, better than just about anyone. But in about 1% of the coverage areas they *do* cover. Anywhere else, they are horrible laggy and splotchy in throughput and response times.

The funny part is, they don't the money as to certain "acquisitions" being made by them, rather than invest in what really counts, they just want MORE customers...

I keep hearing in my head: If you build it, they will come.

If only AT&T understood that servicing current and existing customers, keeps turnover down a lot. But you know "Management and the Board" want larger and bigger.

Bleah.

I've got a couple of stories, I'd rather not put here. If you want them... you know how to get a hold of me.

Is not a Kool-Aid drinker and not a "Oh but its so easy and all you gotta do is this little thing." Place either. We are Honest and upstanding and really give good Triage for enhancement and anything else. (see (1))

Like making a WebSite all WSDL based... and then finding out you have to setup the WSDL service also. What? What do you mean your software doesn't do WSDL (mainly Windows only and slow as shit)

Oh now we have another customer that want an API that works with Lotus Notes... fine have notes use our RESTFUL services. What, you don't know what RESTFUL means?

I mean, I'm seeing "Marketing firms" speaking to customers and they paint pretty pictures... and all that, but... well... they are Bilking the customer of $50K/month and all they do is make pretty stuff in PhotoShop and Illustrator and then tell us to make it... Yet they were supposed to be the ones doing all the WebDesign...

No. Nobody want to hear the real grit... the truth... the hurt feelings... nothing. All they want is Rainbows and Unicorn farts.

GAH. Even people we thought weren't drinking the Kool-Aid... they are self lacing with even harsher amounts of the Kool-Aid Mix.

The Beast *IS* striking back. Harder than ever, just not out in broad daylight. Like they tried when they thought they had all the hands won.

Now they are doing stealth work. Under the guise of working together. Look at what Bill Gates $5B bought Education... NADA. they don't understand their own systems are dumbing people down. How can they, they are to close and directly affected by MORE.... MORE... MORE... We need a NEO to Fight Agent Gates and all his clones.

Someday... after all the fire is gone after the aftermath of this crap, we will look back and say: Damn glad that is over!

Then it starts all over again.

Yes, I'm ranting.

(1) We have a customer that has been burnt 3 times by SaaS/CRM providers. They have paid out the wazoo and gotten exactly no where.

They come to use and lay it on the line and say, we like your product, it just doesn't do {this feature set} we need to go forward. So we triage it and give them and estimate and payment plan with milestones, penalties for missing drop dead dates.

They lay it on the line again and say they are sick and tired of waiting for companies to do what they need done and hate waiting with very little effort and progress, but with paid money. They are used to waiting for the developers and companies and are usually calling and calling them for updates and progress.

We are the ones calling and calling them, we are moving to fast for them. We've missed two dates so far, but because they are dragging feet. They just aren't used to having to test and meeting and work with the vendors so quickly and often...

These people are pleased with our working ethic. I wish this was the norm.

We have plenty other customers that have Bricks for Employees and they stonewall and then blame us for failed/late stuff. When we get hauled out on the carpet, we have documentation that we communicated all the time and waited for answers, followed up every day or every tow days to once a week once it became apparent nothing was going to happen.

Its just not fair to be able to see these things with Vision. And to have to go down into the FOG and fumble our way around in the normality. GEEEZ!