Ideastorm - Premier

I as well as many others I'm sure use some sort of methodology when it comes to asset management.  It could be a database, maybe with a web front-end, a folder structure with random purchase documents, an excel document or any of a number of other methods to tracking your hardware.

What I would like to see is an all encompassing interface on the premier site.  Database with all purchases filtered a number of different ways, maybe on order number, on service tag, on the product itself.  I'd like to see online printable order documentation from beginning to end, the quote, the invoice and the packing slip.  I'd like for my lists to retain addable fields like you would see in an excel document so I could add the machine name if I changed it, maybe our company's asset tag, and who that computer was assigned to.

I do know that some of this exists, but it seems you need special Premier training to accomplish even getting a list of your purchases from X date to X date.
 
To finish this off, software purchases along with their product keys, order dates, and product names would be fantastic.

All of this along with the ability to export these lists/reports to excel/csv and maybe even pdf.

Any additions to this are quite welcome and encouraged.



ADMIN NOTE:  Thank you for your detailed comments.  Dell will continue to develop and enhance Premier with reporting features and capabilities, but please keep in mind that Premier is designed as a tool for procurement, and not as a scaleable, comprehensive, enterprise level-Asset Management solution.  Currently, there are several different report templates, each of which is downloadable in Microsoft Excel format.  Hopefully these different templates will provide you with the raw data you need to accomplish your asset management objectives.  In the meantime, your suggestions have been entered into our Enhancement Pipeline for consideration and possible future development.

Thanks again for using PremierStorm.

1. 500/server errors are endemic - find the cause and fix them.  I get them in both IE7/8 and FireFox 3.x on a number of different computers (XP & Vista) at a number of different locations/ISPs.

2.  The web site is SLOW!!

3. Put your item descriptions, particularly in system configuration in English, not some obscure "Dell code". 

4. Provide a link to additional details/descriptions for every item in every category of component.  How, for example, do I determine whether I want to use the onboard SAS controller in s 2950 server or whether I want to pay extra for a PERC6i.

5. When a gadget is actually a complete screen, i.e. technical support, have a way to expand it to a full window.  Currently, all you can see is a small part of the complete window and there are not even scroll bars.  This makes most gadgets pretty much useless.'

6.  Introduce the web site to FireFox.  There is no excuse for a major vendor's web site to only work correclty in IE.

7.  Make parts searchable by the part number that's on the part.  Many times I have to use Google to find the part number on the part to find the part number that the web site can find.  In addition, have ONE part number for ONE part.  Dell must have an entire department dedicated to making up multiple part numbers for a given part.  For example, try to find a laptop battery by the part number on the battery using the search box on your web site.,


ADMIN NOTE:  We appreciate any and all feedback, and the opportunity to address issues that arise with your experience on Premier and other Dell websites.  However, we would ask that submissions for this particular forum be focused on ideas for feature and functionality requests within Premier.  Should you encounter error messages or other technical issues with Premier, please contact our Premier Helpdesk (Premier@Dell.com, or 800-274-3355, Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm Central Time) to allow them to document and work towards resolution.

Specific to 500/Server errors, our Helpdesk reports that these are more commonly encountered on Support.Dell.com, rather than Premier, and are most often the result of corrupt service tag data.  Please report the details to our Helpdesk at your convenience.

Specific to the Gadget issue within Premier, our Helpdesk reports that this is a documented issue, and will be addressed with a code change currently scheduled in late May.  Originally reported with the Messages or InfoCenter gadget, we would appreciate the details of this additional example submitted to our Helpdesk.

Likewise, any issues with FireFox compatibility, confusing or inaccurate item descriptions, or search issues, please submit to our Helpdesk so that they can engage the appropriate resources.

Thank you again for your feedback.

My second complaint, is that I have not figured out a method of setting up "standard configs".  This is the area in Premier where you have basic templates setup for equipment that you order on a regular basis, without having to go and select all the sames items one chooses each visit.  Sure my sales rep can setup the Standard Config for me, but that does not make sense in terms of time or energy. 

Having the ability to pick from several "standar configs" which include always having:

Office 2007 Basic edition
3 year on-site warranty
no floppy drive
Minimal bloatware
etc

would be a huge time saver as opposed to creating a configuration from scratch each time.

Thanks for this forum.


ADMIN NOTE: Thank you for the input. We will continue to work towards improving the performance of our site, without sacrificing security.

Regarding Standard Configurations, this is a basic feature of Premier, and is managed by your Account team based on your input.  Please make your Sales Representative aware that you have standardized configurations that you would like to see on your page, and they'll work with you to customize the exact defaults, upgrade, and downgrade options that you need to see.

So many requests, so little time. I use Premier extensively all day long, every day. It is essential to my business as a Dell VAR. The following improvements would be great: 

1.       Accurate Premier catalog management. I have lost many customers due to order errors where an item shows up in my Premier catalog, an order is placed, and then it mysteriously disappears or is lost in processing due to changes in the item availability that were not accurately reflected in the Premier catalog. This is a serious issue and I would appreciate it being a high priority.

2.       Ability to set up Order Status as my log-in landing page. That is always my first stop.

3.       Links to Order Status from the top or second level top nav that is persistent on every page.

4.       Accurate and real-time status reporting for Order Processing, In Production and ESPECIALLY Shipping.

5.       No more lag in reporting shipping information. FedEx data often lags by 24 hours or more and that’s a colossal NUISANCE.

6.       Improved integrated with the Partner Portal and the ability to move between the Partner Portal Online Store and Premier with single click simplicity. Eliminate redundant logins and the need to scroll multiple pages between the two stores.

7.       Fix the asset management system!!! Enable us to get complete downloads of all Dell products that have service tags including systems AND peripherals. Make it easy to download asset reports and upload asset transfers. The current system requires special requests, incompatible Excel formats that must be extensively edited prior to uploading and incomplete asset reports. It’s a colossal NUISANCE. Please help.

8.       Enable real-time messaging to the sales team for on-the-spot communication, Q&A, price quotes, customer care and more. WebEx would be fantastic. Get with the 21^st Century ladies & gentlemen.

9.       Integrate priority direct connection to Customer Service and Tech Support for Premier users. Simplify the CS management system. Take a look at how Amazon does it for their Gold & Platinum merchants. Amazon is the VERY BEST I have ever seen anywhere.  The Premier site has been buggy over the last few months and a direct link to Tech Support would be a real benefit. Amazon uses eStara to have their support people call you right back which is something Dell should definitely implement for Premier support across the board.

10.   Extend the login time out to hours, not minutes. Another colossal NUISANCE when it times out in the middle of an active session.

11.   Integrate tax exemptions for multiple jurisdictions so that the correct tax or exemption shows during the checkout process. Too many errors are occurring with the back-end system now in place.

12.   Enable sales tax form and exemption management online via Premier. IBM and Lenovo both have much better systems for this. Dell’s is positively archaic and very error prone. It delays order processing to the extent that it has lost me business or jeopardized my customer relations with my clients. Took me over a year to get it well-oiled and we still have issues due to the most recent system changes that actually made things much worse, not better.

The first topic that leads me here today is that I created a quote 2 days ago and today it is no longer available, even though I told my client that it says it is good for 30 days!  Not good.  Now I try to recreate the quote and find that some items are now no longer available to our selections, OK, but if I choose the system without that product and have to choose something less, why does the price go $70.00 more?  If Dell tells me the quote expires in 30 days, it better honor the quote.

I cannot tell you how frustrated I am to not be able to quote product that SHOULD be available, but isn't.

How long did it take you guys to make the 1909W display available after removing the 1908FPW.  Holy cow!  Now that it available it will delay our orders!  So I started selling the 2208FPW and it is no longer there.

Let me say though, at first this tool was a godsend for me and my account rep.  I loved it!!!! It still needed some work, but I was able to do everything I needed.  As products have changed, I assume, the order site has just been frustrating.  I like all of the available tool for retrieving invoices and orders.

I also found out that being a good reseller, i know I dont do the business that many other do, but I have been selling a good portion of dell machines for quite some time and found out the other day that someone new applied for Dell premier status and got the same pricing as someone who has been with you for quite some time and sells a lot of machines.  hmmmm.  I really think you should have some kind of tier level, or maybe I am just too small of a fish, don't really know.


ADMIN NOTE:  We appreciate any and all feedback, and the opportunity to address issues that arise with your experience on Premier and other Dell websites.  However, we would ask that submissions for this particular forum be focused on ideas for feature and functionality requests within Premier.

It is important to remember that any quote from Dell is a guarantee of price on the selected items through the expiration, but not necessarily availability.  For Dell's Client and Enterprise products, such as OptiPlex, Latitude, and PowerEdge, lifecycles are managed carefully, including End-Of-Life for options.  Lightswitch transitions are more common on consumer brands, such as Inspiron, XPS, and Studio.  As always, consult with your Dell Sales Representative for product questions, including lifecycle and availability.

I get too much of this..

Error while searching for your result. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we encountered an error while processing your question. Please try the following:Click on your browser's back button and retry your search.Use Advanced Search to find a specific product or service.

What I am looking for is a fast access way to search for product/parts, buy produuct/parts and get out.  I do not need anymore thrill/chill info sites to slow my work.  Give me plain vanilla, like Google, and then allow me to customize to my desired level of info.

 

Stop playing hide the option.  This doesn't make anyone money.

If you offer it, offer it.

Don’t only offer the 22” UltraSharp on some systems.  Poking around to try and find which systems I can get it with and which ones I can't only waists time.  They are coming in separate boxes so there is no advantage in this.

The same thing with AntiVirus Programs.  What’s up with that?  This one I can get 36 Mo McAfee, but that one is 36 Mo Norton.  That’s not helpful.  If you offer it, offer it.

One of my orders was recently lost because of an issue with the 22”Monitor and a sound bar.  The 22” Ultrasharp was not offered with the Optiplex system for some unknown reason, so I had to add it to the cart separately.  This kicked out the order because of the sound bar that was selected with the system was giving an error that it was not compatible or something.  I don’t need orders lost – I need them shipped.  I would think that Dell would want to ship orders as well.

I love What Julia said on June 5^th about “The hoops I have to jump through to get order status.”   I would have found the missing order much sooner if I could have easily tracked orders.  On the My Premier page right at the top there is an E Quote list.  How about an “Order Status List” so I can see what is on the way and what is No Way.


ADMIN NOTE:  As all Dell manufacturing facilities are ISO certifed, there are some restrictions as to what options can be offered as "factory installed" with specific systems.  As your main point of contact and information about Dell, your Dell Sales Representative has access to personnel and information to give you more detail on why an option such as a specific monitor may be offered as "Factory Installed" with some products, but not with others.

Order Status, as with other post-sales support functions, are a part of Support.Dell.com, and separate from Premier.  We have added features to make it easier for Premier customers to obtain their information, but because the Order Status site is unsecure, it does require some information to validate a search.  If you do check order status regularly, ask your Dell Sales Representative for you Dell Customer Number to see more results than PO Number, Order Number, or Dell Purchase ID.

Thank you for using PremierStorm.

 I find Premier to have enormous potential to help my business grow and become more efficient.  After reading through many articles on IdeaStorm though, it's apparent that my Gold Team, who are awesome, by the way, are not trained enough on the different features that can be enabled on our Premier pages to increase our efficiencies.  

First, the recommendation:  Allow Premier page admins to add/remove feature sets / content blocks from their Premier page.  For sensitive areas, etc, implement a request-enable/deny process that the Premier Member's Dell team could manage.  In my case, that would be my Gold Team.

Second, a question:  Is there a list of the feature sets that are possible with Premier, along with their descriptions and functions so that I can go forward to my Gold Team and try and enable things that might benefit us?


ADMIN NOTE:  Customer ability to self-manage more information within Premier is actually already one of the focus areas of our planning and development teams.  As we work towards development of solutions in this arena, our Online Marketing team will communicate any coming enhancements to your Dell Account team.

Regarding Premier Features, your Dell Sales team has access to resources to provide you with customer facing presentations and other documentation.  Sales also has the ability to request a web-based live demonstration/walk-through/training session, presented by Online team members assigned to their sales group. 

Thank you for using PremierStorm.

When I create an equote, I am required to enter an Equote name AND a description. However, neither of these creations show up on the actual equote. When I need to match a hard copy equote with its online counterpart, I have only the equote number to go by. This is difficult on the eyes. Either put the Name/Description on the actual equote, or stop requiring us to take the time to create them.

Thanks for the opportunity to contribute!


ADMIN NOTE:  Thank you for your contribution.  E-Quote Name and Description are primarily used for E-Quote identification and retrieval, and may not always be relevant information on the actual E-Quote itself.  However, we have received feedback similar to yours, and currently have these suggestions on our list of enhancements that are being considered for future development.

Thanks again for using PremierStorm.

Building quotes for clients is time consuming, but reinventing the wheel again to present that quote to them is just a plain pain in the butt.  What if we could streamline that process and make it customizable?

My Recommendation:  Use a custom-templated system to allow for system information and quote items to be displayed any way the user wishes (or possibly given a handful of display choices) which would make copying data from the e-quote to the reseller's end-user quote a snap.  


ADMIN NOTE:  Thank you for your idea, which will be logged within our Global Online Enhancement pipeline, and will be considered for future development.  Reseller and Partner pricing is an ongoing area of focus for our Global Online teams.  As we work towards development of solutions in this arena, our Online Marketing team will communicate any coming enhancements to your Dell Account team.

Thank you for using PremierStorm.