I have been an unabashed fan of Dell for over twenty years. I have believed in the company’s business model since first hearing about Michael Dell’s vision. I have preached in big corporations, small business offices, and individual homes the merits of purchasing this company’s equipment above any competitors for many, many, years. Sadly, in the past several months I have heard and personally experienced events which lead me to conclude this company is shifting directions, leaving some of its staunchest supporters behind.....

Perhaps the first warning sign came last summer. A client with an admitted propensity for ignoring issues until they become “critical,” called early one morning. Many of you know the story already. 

“Nobody can get their email. We can’t even get on the web and we have an even bigger problem!” Remaining calm, I purposely paused a few seconds before responding hoping my agitated client might catch his breath. “Besides not having email and web surfing, what else is going on?”

“We can’t pull up our case information and we have several briefs due and a big case going to court at the end of the week!” At this point, I could envision a small but decidedly angry group of staff peering down at the telephone over my client’s shoulder. Before I had time to ask a few questions to diagnose the severity of the issues, the final “confession” was breathed into the receiver, “I’ve already looked at the server. The screen was black and I tried turning it back on. I heard a ‘whining sound’ followed by some clicks. Nothing came up on the screen, not even an error message.”

I had warned this client that his aging Windows NT 4.0 Server was experiencing read/write issues on both RAID Volumes for nearly a year. The Event Viewer would show that certain disk stripes were unreadable during periodic system reboots. While the system continued to perform, unmistakable warning signs of impending hardware failure were being broadcast to anyone willing to listen. I listened, but despite my begging, pleading, and cajoling, my client insisted on waiting for the shoe to literally drop.

Compounding the challenge now facing them, and by extension me, was lax (putting it kindly) follow through keeping the tape backup system properly rotated and running. One obvious moral to this story is, backup, backup, backup. This task is without doubt the most difficult to get commitment on in small business settings (and I won’t even discuss SOHO and individual settings because the problem is worse). Backing up isn’t “sexy,” it isn’t “fun,” and it doesn’t seem to add any productive “value” to the enterprise (until it is needed). Then good back ups are a value because productivity can come to an utter stand still!

You may be asking how this lengthy preamble relates to my perception that Dell is losing touch. Please read on for the rest of the story.....

My client’s white box server (which was purchased by a consultant prior to my taking the account over approximately five years ago) had experienced catastrophic hard drive failure. Neither drive could be viewed using my Knoppix Emergency CD, a very bad sign. As I worked to restore critical files from tape and other back ups, I suggested that we immediately purchase a Dell PowerEdge Server runnng Windows Small Business Server 2003. This box was easily configurable to meet this small law firm’s current and foreseeable needs over the next three years. The operating system upgrade offered a host of useful additions including Microsoft Exchange; Sharepoint; Desktop Fax capability and more. (This is a SBS 2003 is a great value and attractive alternative for small, but growing, businesses which don’t need the power and expense of Windows Server 2003.  If you aren’t familiar with this product, I encourage you to check out the nearby link.)

Armed with my Dell Small Business Account information, I configured a system and proceeded to check out. My first unpleasant surprise came when the estimated shipping date was twelve days out. Even with one night shipping, I was going to have to ask my clients to wait two full weeks before hoping to return to their routine and full productivity! Hoping for some assistance, or at least an alternative, I called my sale’s rep. After navigating Dell’s tree branch voice mail, I was told my sales representative was no longer with the company. This individual had actually been my fourth rep through the six years my small business account had been open.  In the interest of fair and full disclosure, I have had some excellent sales people as well as one or two who seemed like my account wasn’t really all that important to them.....

I “met” my newest rep and apprised him of my situation. He informed me that there were “part issues” causing the delay and there wasn’t anything he could do beyond throwing in free shipping to help compensate for the delay. I stared at the ceiling thinking how this story would play to a group of frustrated attorneys and their assistants in the morning. Since the hold up revolved around the disk drive controller and RAID disks, changing to another server configuration would not help the situation. Reluctantly, I placed the order.

Fast forward two weeks. My clients were without internet access and a key SQL database all of this time. They were very anxious to get things “back to normal.” Ship day! I went online to verify the tracking number and confirm delivery times. I couldn’t believe what I saw staring back at me. A “revised ship date” two weeks further out. No one had called, emailed, text messaged, nothing! Speechless, I knew I had let down a long term client who relied on my recommendation and made real economic sacrifices the past two weeks.

I immediately called Dell for clarification. It was “after hours” in Texas and I didn’t reach my Sales Rep directly. The answers I got from the Customer Service Department did little more than confirm the new ship date. I expressed frustration for the poor communication. This led to a promise of a ‘phone call from my sales rep in the morning and little more. When we did finally speak, I told him that small businesses do not have redundant servers, and small businesses which communicate about orders as poorly as Dell had with me, typically are out of business before their first year. 

I told my Dell Representative that he had further jeapordized my business with this client because I had tied my repurtation to Dell. Their failure to deliver directly reflected on me. I fully understand the merits of JIT (just in time) parts delivery; ABC (Activity Based Costing); and the other manufacturing and accounting principals which has allowed Dell to grow from a garage to a world-wide super power in the field of technology hardware. Clearly, these systems, along with a complete lack of human communication with the customer, collectively failed.

The solution?  I called CDW and my sale’s rep listened. A half dozen telephone calls later, I had an IBM Server, along with a copy of Microsoft Windows Small Business Server; an Exchange enabled antivirus program, scheduled for overnight shipment. Was the box perfectly configured for my client’s needs. No. Close but no. Would I have to manually install SBS on location costing some time and expense? Yes. Were these trade-offs worthwhile given the prospect of two weeks additional lost time and productivity for a small law firm? Absolutely. Am I appreciative of the extra effort put forth by CDW and my Sales Rep. to make things happen from the first telephone call? You bet!

Several days after cancelling the Dell order, and after I expressed my frustration in the form of an email to small business customer service’s general account, I received a follow up telephone call from the company. I reiterated my tale and told them of their competitor’s ability to do what they apparently no longer can, address the immediate needs of small business. They asked that I give them another opportunity. I did try using Dell two more times in 2004. Suffice it to say, this is not an isolated observation.  Ship dates continued to be weeks in the future, and on at least one additional occassion, changed after order placement to a later time period.

I have more real life reasons Dell is no longer my first choice in hardware. I will leave these for another day. If you have questions or comments regarding this article, please let me know!

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