User days 2012

[aorange]

I had an email recently stating that the 2012 user days will be held in Zurich, does anyone know the agenda and if there is a reference visit planned?

[olduser67]

Hi Jonathan!
We are currently working on the final agenda. You will receive an invitatino within the next 2-3 weeks with the detailed agenda.
But, as you already know our former User Days, I can tell you, that you will again catch up brandnew information like:
- Launch WinCC OA V3.11 ... new features!
- Workshops about Security in SCADA, some new features of V3.11
- 2 reference visits to select

I hope this helps and I am looking forward to see you in Zurich!
Nice regards Martina

[jasondonovan]

Hi Jonathan,
Are you going to the user days 2012? are you busy with WinCCoA??

We were planning on going (Software Links), but nothing seems to be happening in the UK from Siemens with WinCCoA. So i see little point in attending.
We signed up for the partner program, had audits etc but have not heard anything in return, really disappointing......

Take care..

Jason

[aorange]

Hi Jason, yes I am attending and I was really hoping to get a chance to catch up with you in Zurich... I found out last week however that I am the only attendee from the UK

I have so far managed to stay busy with WinCC-OA developing some really nice applications and proof-of-concepts, sadly however they never seem to lead anywhere despite demonstrating real savings and quantifiable benefits to the company I work for.. so the future of my role as a PVSS engineer here is uncertain.

I too have been waiting for Siemens UK to start taking this product seriously here in the UK and I am just as disappointed as you are.

[dsmalley]

Hi Jason and Jonathan,

I have recently taken over responsibility for WinCC OA within the UK and I apologise if you weren't made aware of this. I can assure you that we are taking WinCC OA very seriously and a great deal of my initial time in this position has been spent looking at opportunities with the product. In fact I have been over in Austria this week visiting ETM with customers looking at some very interesting and challenging projects for WinCC OA in the UK.
In the coming months I will be engaging with our current users who form the basis of the expertise in the UK and I have already had meetings about both of your applications and I know you are both thought of very highly within Siemens/ETM.
Jason, with regards to your Solution partner status I understand you have been contacted regarding this and we hope to meet up with you soon to progress this.

I hope I have addressed the issues that you have raised and I hope that you will now feel comfortable to contact me or anyone else in our team directly if you have any further issues.

All the best

Daniel Smalley
Product Manager SCADA - Siemens IA&DT UK

[jasondonovan]

Daniel,

It has been very frustrating with Siemens and WinCCoA. Jonathan and Software Links have both demonstrated the power and versitility of WinCCoA to many customers but there seems to be no substance to the product in the UK. I appreciate you have just taken on this role so all the best there.
We have just lost out on a project with an energy monitoring company because I could not provide them with a cost structure! hopefully this will change and I will offer my full support to working with you.

[aorange]

I can only second Jason's comments; we have on so many occasions demonstrated the capabilities of WinCC-OA to people across the utilities industry here in the UK and they have been completely blown away by it. Sadly, there has been no effort of this nature or follow-up (that I know of) from Siemens to promote its adoption.

Since Frenk left ETM, I have also personally not been able to establish a route to feed ideas and potential requirements from our industry into the product.

But enough ranting.. I am glad we have a product manager in the UK now and I look forward to working together.

[dsmalley]

There has been a lot of work going on in the background with WinCC OA in the Utilities industries and the lack of progress hasn't always been due to a lack of effort on our part. WinCC OA is very much a key product for us and we are currently looking at opportunities in a number of different industries.

Please direct any ideas and customer requirements that you have through me and I will ensure that they are correctly followed up with our colleagues at ETM who are being tremendously supportive of our efforts.

I would be happy to talk through any issues with you offline as this is perhaps not the best place to be discussing specific regional issues.

I look forward to meeting you soon.

Thanks

Daniel

[aorange]

I would just like to extend a BIG thank you to ETM and everyone involved in organising this year's user days. As always, it is a one of a kind opportunity to share ideas, discuss new features and generally find out about the latest developments in the OA world. I had a great couple of days and really look forward to the new release.

Regards

Jonathan

[jasondonovan]

Glad it was good Jonathan. I left it too late to reserve my space, then it was fully booked.
When you are free perhaps we should have a chat off line, you have my email?