RE: Brainstorming ideas?

["Goldstein Steven (STNA-IN/PRM1)" <Steven -dot- Goldstein -at- us -dot- bosch -dot- com>]

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the feedback.

Our corporate web site already provides our dealers with the ability to
download documentation for any of our products that are currently in
production. Here are the current limitations:

* The corporate web site doesn't provide access to documentation for
older products that are out of production. If the dealer/technician is
required to service one of these older products, and he doesn't already
have that product's documentation on file, then he has to call my Tech
Support department for assistance. The web site I'm thinking of
producing will contain all product documentation, including that of old
products.

* Also, because the technicians don't have Internet access when they're
on the road, they can't reach the corporate web site when they need to.
By having the content stored on their local hard drives, this is no
longer an issue.

I have communicated with a small sample of our technicians, and they
like the idea. And I know that Xerox uses a system very similar to what
I'm describing, so it's a proven idea. With the Xerox system, the
technician logs onto the server once a week to update his local
documentation collection. Accessing the server, of course, requires a
logon/password for security (although, like I said, at my current
company the documentation is already in the public domain).

Best regards,

Steve


-----Original Message-----
From: David Neeley [mailto:dbneeley -at- oddpost -dot- com] 
Sent: Wednesday, August 04, 2004 7:31 PM
To: Goldstein Steven (STNA-IN/PRM1); TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: Brainstorming ideas?

First, with widespread broadband, there needn't be any particular reason
for sending CDs at all...unless, perhaps, you bundled them into some
other shipment already going to your dealers. 
  
Second, I would not suggest auto-update at all--if by that you mean what
you were wondering, that is, to "...auto-update an entire web site that
resides on the technicians' hard drives." 
  
For one thing, that would expose you to considerable potential
liability; for another, there is no reason that the technician must run
a Windows box if it is a purely Web-based product. It is simple enough
to do an email to the technician/dealers when an update is available,
perhaps with a button they can push to download it. That way, it is the
technician's decision...and you don't know in advance what sort of
security they might be running, what they might have to do to enable
your download to pass it, etc. 
  
I know if I were one of these dealers (which implies they are
independent business people), *I* certainly would not want anyone to
have unfettered access to my computer. For example, perhaps I am
corresponding with one of your competitors--I might be a *little*
concerned that this sort of information might not remain confidential in
such a case. 
  
However, before I went too far with your plans, I suggest soliciting
comments or having an email poll of your dealer base to determine what
features *they* consider important. If this is a fairly normal
proposition, I doubt whether you now are aware of all of their concerns
from their viewpoint. 
  
David 
  
-----Original Message from Goldstein Steven (STNA-IN/PRM1)
<Steven -dot- Goldstein -at- us -dot- bosch -dot- com>-----
  


<<<<[automatic updates] If this is possible, then I might only have to 
send 1,500 CD-ROMs to the technicians once (to install the first 
release of the documentation, plus to install the auto-update 
software).>>>> 

<<That's a big time and cost saving on your end, and thus, well worth 
recommending.>> 

Agreed. What I'm wondering is if I can auto-update an entire web site 
that resides on the technicians' hard drives.... 

Steve 
Steven -dot- goldstein -at- us -dot- bosch -dot- com 

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