Hey WotC, SHOW ME THE SLA!!!

[Odhanan]

Doesn't bode well for the Digital Initiative if they can't even keep their site up for an announcement that they KNOW would be big.

Exactly my thought. I'm excited about 4e. I'm worrying about the D.I. however...

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

My professional experience has been more like Umbran's. Consumer-based online content/functionality distributors rarely get the same kind of treatment that corporate-based ones do, simply as a matter of economics. The per customer leverage is much different when you have 100,000 customers paying $10 each, rather than 10 customers paying $100,000 each.

And for those 100,000 customers using the service for a hobby, it is a lot less painful for them to cancel a $10 subscription if the service sucks than it is for a $100,000 corporate customer to migrate something critical to doing business to another host.

WotC won't need an SLA to ensure the site is well-maintained. If WotC cannot maintain the DI, they will fail because people will not keep paying. That should be incentive enough.

 

[Xyxox]

And for those 100,000 customers using the service for a hobby, it is a lot less painful for them to cancel a $10 subscription if the service sucks than it is for a $100,000 corporate customer to migrate something critical to doing business to another host.

WotC won't need an SLA to ensure the site is well-maintained. If WotC cannot maintain the DI, they will fail because people will not keep paying. That should be incentive enough.

Oh well.

I won't be one of the 100,000 if they cannot give me some kind of guarantee on up time. I'm not expecting five nines, here. What I am expecting is a guarantee of uptime and a schedule for maintenance down time. Furthermore, notification of emergency maintenance must be guaranteed via email. It's easy enough to do.

Finally, I want some assurance of a disaster recovery plan. I'm not expecting automatic failover to a new facility in the event of a complete disaster. I am expecting assurances of data retention and storage away from the data center where the servers are hosted.

I'm not asking for corporate level assurances, but I do expect certain assurances to be contained within the subscription agreement. IF, as others have said, they will dissavow any assurances of the service being available, I simply cannot subscribe. There is no value to subscribing to such an online content hosting service when I can obtain the same assurances for no cost whatsoever.

 

[Hjorimir]

There is no way you're getting an SLA. No way. You sound like people who get a cable modem and expect a CIR to go with it. It just isn't going to happen.

 

[borc killer]

It also got Farked.

/.ed+farked=dead servers

But I would think it should be back up by now... maybe the damn IT people went to GenCon too... hehe

 

[Xyxox]

There is no way you're getting an SLA. No way. You sound like people who get a cable modem and expect a CIR to go with it. It just isn't going to happen.

My cable provider pro-rates my bills whenever there is any sort of an outage. Because they ahve provided me with an SLA, I have my television delivery, broadband services, and telephony services all through my cable company. I've had one outage that affected all three services in four years. If an outage affects any service, I am automatically pro-rate credited for the lack of service. This is a home service, not a business class service.

That's my expectation here, or at least some guarantee of up time. It doesn't have to be five nines and I wouldn't expect that. Assurances are a must, though, else it's not worth my time and effort because any data I store with the D&D Insider service is not guaranteed to be backed up. One failure and I could lose it all with no recourse.

 

[Darth Shoju]

My cable provider pro-rates my bills whenever there is any sort of an outage. Because they ahve provided me with an SLA, I have my television delivery, broadband services, and telephony services all through my cable company. I've had one outage that affected all three services in four years. If an outage affects any service, I am automatically pro-rate credited for the lack of service. This is a home service, not a business class service.

Which cable company is that? The one I work for doesn't do that and I can only imagine it is a logistical chore to keep up with that sort of thing.

 

[Umbran]

IF, as others have said, they will dissavow any assurances of the service being available, I simply cannot subscribe. There is no value to subscribing to such an online content hosting service when I can obtain the same assurances for no cost whatsoever.

That is, of course, your choice to make for yourself.

However, given that we've not seen the product yet, we are not at all assured that the major function is them hosting your content. If, most of the function is them hosting their content for you to see, and providing tools and services other than hosting your content, then the SLA requirement you are calling for may be less than appropriate.

 

[borc killer]

It also got Farked.

/.ed+farked=dead servers

But I would think it should be back up by now... maybe the damn IT people went to GenCon too... hehe

 

[Charwoman Gene]

*** THE FOLLOWING VIEWS DO NOT REFLECT THE POSITION OF CABLEVISION SERVICES CORPORATION *** (I'm physically on their property so...)

Xxyox, did you specifically seek out an SLA? Some Cable companies will get you an SLA and charge you business rates for it.