Symantec Gateway - reducing development, is it true ?

[Stevan Coates]

I have heard from more than one source that both development and maintenance/support of SMG is being or has been reduced significantly.
I hear it is due to concetrating in the endpoint arena.

Is there any validity to this?
Any links to statements from Symantec / Broadcom to back this up or refute ?

[alexander-smg]

That had better NOT be the case.

[Stevan Coates]

Well, first time in years I raised a request from Symantec/Broadcom, response was almost non existent.
System down and TWO WEEKS for any response (excluding the automated emails). I ended up resolving the issue myself with zero assistance Symantec/Broadcom So I guess I answered my own question.

Support has taken a big hit !

[alexander-smg]

Where are the smg updates.

[Vashan Kailai]

Hi.

I have also tried to contact Broadcom Support without any response. Tried also to create multiple support ticket through Broadcom Support Portal for Symantec Messaging Gateway product. All the tickets have been closed without any response or contact.

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Vashan Kailai
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[alexander-smg]

That had better not be true. I love smg. Where’s my updates Broadcom?????

[Stevan Coates]

​same thing happened to me, I asked two questions one was ignored and the case was closed.
Support so far kinda sucks.

It's a real shame though I recall several years ago (long time customer) getting assistance and nothing was too much trouble, they remoted in and fixed the issue.

[alexander-smg]

Cant be true.  They must be other updates coming out in the near future.  I am smg's biggest customer in the world.  They wont leave me hanging.  

[Stevan Coates]

​don't misconstrue the title, I said reducing development and support. No stopping it entirely. I think I have worked out support has suffered but Im sure update will happen regularly. At least I hope so.

[alexander-smg]

Cant be true.  They must be other updates coming out in the near future.  I am smg's biggest customer in the world.  They wont leave me hanging.  

 

[Sunil Choudrie]

Hi Stevan

 

I'm sorry to read that your experience with receiving support for a system down time issue was not as you expected.  This is not the level of service that we intend to provide so I apologise.  I am pleased that you did manage to resolve the issue.  I'd like to check, is there anything else that you need support with at this time?  I know this doesn't help you with your recent problem, but for reference, here is a link for the support options we provide depending on case severity (https://www.broadcom.com/support/software/contact).

 

I see that you had previously asked about our ongoing investing in Email Security, specifically SMG.  Symantec continues to invest in developing our Email Security.cloud service and the Symantec Messaging Gateway appliance.  We manage these products within the Symantec Network Security Division.  This is separate from our Endpoint Security business, so there is no diversion of investment away from Network Security to Endpoint (or any other technology area).   I think you will find this blog written by Art Gilliand (Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Symantec Enterprise Division) informative.  To find out more about our Network Security focus and investment I recommend you watch the webinar "Symantec Network Security: Innovation and Strategy for Your Success" hosted on this page.

 

Warm regards

 

Sunil

Email Security Forum Moderator (Symantec Enterprise Division)

[alexander-smg]

I wanna be on the smg testing beta program.  As in, I wanna pretest yor smg updates before public.  How do I get that privilege????????  And I need smg to have more features!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

thanks

[Thomas Anderson]

Best way forward is to contact your account rep and let him know how you feel.  He can then open the channel with the Product Management and Engineering teams.  We haven't had any official "beta" program for SMG for many years, but we are certainly happy to work with customers to provide early access, where possible.  

(Sind sie "Alex" von österreichischen Regierung?)

[alexander-smg]

Add my name to beta please.  I want the beta smg like yesterday.

[alexander-smg]

No man.  Broadcom knows who I am and now should just send me an email with the beta links when they come out.  Remember, I am biggest customer of SMG. 

 

thanks

[ace1]

I don't know, but, as a customer and external observer, I don't see the same frequency of patch/release that existed prior of the acquisition.

Additionally, support seems pretty much non existent, I've logged a ticket days ago, and I haven't received any feedback so far, an engineer wasn't even assigned.

I can deduce that original SMG team is being restructured, partially cut or gone, I can of course be wrong, but this is what a customer like me is experiencing, I cannot know what's going behind the scenes but the level of responsiveness just isn't there, especially for a paid support contract...

[Ben Erickson]

I am very concerned about this.I also saw reported in the forums problems ordering licenses and renewals, but we are a new customer after the acquisition and got our licenses very promptly.

So I am going to lodge a Medium (P3) canary ticket right now via the support portal and will report back here what happens to it. Hopefully the canary doesn't die.

{Case#XXXXXXXX} ## New Case Created
Thank you for contacting Broadcom Technical Support.

Case XXXXXXXX has been created on your behalf and an Engineer will be contacting you shortly.

[alexander-smg]

Man don’t worry.

[Ben Erickson]

First non-automated response from support engineer in 2 hours 45 mins, and I'm not even Symantec's biggest customer! I'd call that a good response time in this biz! =)

[ace1]

The first response is usually a "courtesy" reply, from non-product specialized staff, just to say they have respected the "time to answer" agreement.
Try to submit a real ticket with a real problem :) and see how it goes...
​​

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Ace It
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[Ben Erickson]

It's an actual problem- something that's been bugging me for a while, just not enough to open a ticket. And the response indicated the individual had actual product knowledge beyond reading off a script. I gave them kind of a tough one, so we'll see how it goes. =)

[Ben Erickson]

For anyone still interested, I got several responses in the last few days. The issue I brought up may not actually have a solution yet- it may require some engineering. Anyhow, I'd say I'm overall satisfied with the responses I've gotten from my ticket as far as responsiveness goes. I did not get ignored, and they did try.

I'll post my issue as a separate thread just on the off-chance that the community knows more than the support folks do, though.;-) Good job, Symantec!

[alexander-smg]

See. I told u so. Symantec rocks.

[Ben Erickson]

Yeah, alex is always right. But where are the upgrades to make my life happy?

[alexander-smg]

I’m too important.