While I certainly have my own laundry list of frustrations when it comes to software manufacturers, I thought I’d voice what I’m certain will be an unpopular sentiment. Reality checks often are.
Since the 80s, the single most expensive aspect of running a software company has been tech support. I’ve seen more developers than I can count close the doors because this cost ate up all their profits. (Full disclosure: I’ve been a professional developer for three decades).
Internet forums were a dream come true for the software world. People voluntarily give their personal data to Facebook for free, who in turn makes money with it. But you don’t get a vote on how the website is designed. Google does the same with your YouTube videos. I'll bet you use the self checkout line at the grocery store, too. Why on earth would software companies spend money hiring support people when they can get the users to do it for free?
I love tech. It pays my bills. But there are aspects of the Internet that certainly take the shine off of it. You now live in an age of “The customer is the product.” That has a profound effect on corporate behavior. You can get angry and take your business elsewhere, but all that will accomplish is logging into a different user forum to complain. Self service is the standard business model for all tech companies.
This is how the world works now. You can make as much noise as you like but you’re really just barking at the moon. No CEO is going to pour money into hiring support staff when the customer is willing to do it for free. If he did, he’d be fired within a year. BMD is no exception.
While I certainly respect the perspective and sentiments, threads like these are really just an excuse for people to vent. They change nothing.
alan bovine wrote:* Support is entirely by volunteers on the forum
* BMD is visibly absent from the forums
* No official training material
* No communication / feedback process to talk about long term ideas
* No proper documentation (scripting SDK? Or just the regular SDK? Fixing all the mistakes in the current help PDFs?)
* Support will always be by volunteers. It’s how things are done today.
* BMD participation, as with Resolve, will always be at best minimal. That’s why they have a forum, so you can handle it yourself.
* They’re not going to spend money on training materials. They’re not in the training business.
* Software companies rarely if ever discuss long term ideas with users. Even when they do, I promise you it’s still ignored in the dev meetings - no one has a greater say than the marketing guys, because they generate revenue.
* Documentation costs money, and the sense in the dev business is that no one reads the manual anyway, so why spend any more money than you have to?
That said, to offer something constructive, I’ll give you two words: Andrew Kramer.
As has been mentioned, we all know him and have seen the success of Video Copilot. They eventually went on to sell products but in the beginning there was still a value for him. It made him a well-known and respected name in the AE community, and you can be sure he got more work because of it.
Complaining on a thread will have absolutely zero effect. If you want to make a difference and take Fusion support to the next level, do what Kramer did. Create video tutorials. Launch a website. Become an authoritative resource for all things Fusion. The community will get better support, and your career will benefit. Want training materials? Create them yourself. If they’re good, people will pay you for training.
Yeah, I know, this isn’t going to change anyone’s mind. BMD should pay to support their products because, you know, it’s not fair that we should have to do it for free. BMD should run their company in a less profitable manner than their competition. Sure, there are the occasional companies who actually do spend money on support. Watch their trajectory over a few years and you’ll see one of two consistent trends – either they move to the customers supporting themselves, or they go out of business.
And while this last point is off topic I’ll offer it anyway. Every Internet support forum on the planet complains that the company doesn’t spend enough money hiring support people. Right after they complain that their bugs or favorite features aren’t being addressed quickly enough. Support staff costs money. Developers cost money. And there’s only so much money to go around. Would you rather BMD hire more developers to address your needs, or fire a few devs to hire support staff instead? It really is a zero sum game, but that’s just life in the business world.
Okay, I can see a few of you reaching for tomatoes to hurl, so I’ll see myself out now…