What's With Acronis?

This company is all of a sudden putting out new product (TI v8 and DDS v9) faster than I change underwear and they can not support (in a timely fashion) the software that is already out there. People are starting to say that their support is rivaling that of Symantec's (and that AINT good!). Furthermore the additions to TI v8 (as per their info sheet) certainly do not command US$29.95 for a download! I presently use TI v7/627 and PE 2003 and am now wondering if Acronis has any intention of continuing support/updates for TI versions less than v8. I have been working some small issues with Acronis since 6/20 and 1 is still hanging from 7/3 (all TI v7). I actually had a "wish list" going for TI's next upgrade but they beat me to the punch. The ONE thing that is so sorely needed is auto-verification (that is, verify after write) for scheduled image creation. The code is already in place, and adding a check box, and then executing the check image procedure passing the filename just created, is entry-level programming. I have never seen a piece of backup software that did not include a selection for immediate verification especially when it is a scheduled run! Enough said! What say all of you?

 

Acronis True Image Version 10 next month!

That wouldn't suprise me now after seeing this new "version" of theirs.

 

Each company is entitled to make a profit. As a consumer, you can vote with your wallet. That's why I no longer purchase/recommend Symantec products. Zone Alarm is going downhill with the introduction of version 5.0. Could be growing pains after the recent merger with Checkpoint.

There are many excellent free proggies out there...Irfanview, Firefox, Avast Home, JV16 (ver 1.3?), powertoys for WXP, and download express.

Companies come out with new version each year to spur sales. I don't upgrade unless the new version contains a "must have" option. Often, you can do more harms by excessive tinkering.

F.

 

Now this part does worry me!

 

And indeed, it should!

 

Like f123 said, vote with your wallet. If your old version works, why give them money for basically the same thing with a new facelift?
A lot of software updates just get more bloated with useless crap anyway to make them look more appealing, just like that shiny new lure at the hardware store that costs 20 bucks and won't catch you any bigger fish.

 

it's called poor software coding. Does it requires more CPU clock time to image a partition today than in 2000? Faster PCs = piggy software. Each vendor is trying to out match the other by offering more bells and whistles. Instead of perfecting an existing product (there are NO perfect software), these vendors are constantly adding gee whiz stuffs to the core program so they can justify an "upgrade". The price of software should be going down with greater competition!
<snip>

edited to remove product spam - Detox

 

Maybe they've been bought out by Symantec, hence this appalling "NEW" version which only just qualifies as 7.1 in my book.

Not just on this forum but I also notice the same pattern on many other forums since the v8.0 announcement, the reputation of Acronis has severely dropped and I think they'd better turn this around quickly, especially to us loyal users.

Fedorov.

 

Hi, Fedorov999

Not much one can add to that my old mate Fedorov, other than it would make me very sad if it was to happen.

Take Care.
TheQuest

 

Hello --

Just to clarify this : *we are not bought by Symantec, nor we are going to be bought by them (or rather we won't sell us to them)* Point.

Thank you.

--
Best regards,
Anton Gromov

Acronis, Inc.
395 Oyster Point Blvd. Suite 213
South San Francisco
CA 94080 USA
http://www.acronis.com/

Acronis... Compute with confidence

 

https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=19744&highlight=acadia acronis

Acadia

 

Hmm, I've missed the point of your post Acadia. Please, can you clarify what did you mean by pointing to that old discussion?

Thanks.

--
Best regards,
Anton Gromov

Acronis, Inc.
395 Oyster Point Blvd. Suite 213
South San Francisco
CA 94080 USA
http://www.acronis.com/

Acronis... Compute with confidence

 

Simply warning the previous two posters of an experience that left a bitter taste in my mouth for Acronis even though I still use TI6.0. When Acronis initially stalled on the refund it was as if someone punched me in the gut, I simply could not believe what I was hearing and I will NEVER forget that, in my opinion treating ANY customer like that was inexcusable.

Acadia

 

Well, I can assure you that we never did delay the refund intentionally. I mean that if a customer wants a refund and none of the suggested alternatives fits him, he *will* get a refund. That is the absolute truth. And be sure we (at least I) will try to make the process as fast as possible as there is absolutely no sense in delaying the refund for us.

Thank you.

--
Best regards,
Anton Gromov

Acronis, Inc.
395 Oyster Point Blvd. Suite 213
South San Francisco
CA 94080 USA
http://www.acronis.com/

Acronis... Compute with confidence

 

@ Acadia: I can understand your bad feelings about Acronis!

I also had some bad experiences with the Acronis helpdesk as you can read in my thread overhere .

Until a few weeks ago, the Acronis website told us the following about technical support:
"We guarantee 48 hours response only for registered users."

They deleted that message, which is very honest of them, because they can not keep this promise. In fact, you have to wait more than a week for an answer. Is that making us happy customers? Don't think so.
Apparently it's more important for them to fool their customers with a "new version 8.0" than to improve their support department.

Now let's quote mister Lawton (Acronis marketing director) in his reply to Acadia's post in JANUARY:

Again: this was written in January 2004. And nothing has improved since then!
I especially like the part where he says "We've had three major launches in the past six weeks...."
Hahaha, well, why not try to make SIX launches in three weeks, it will give you even more marketing possibilities!

So, Acronis, when are you going to understand that quality is more important than quantity?

 

Not really sure why all the extreme complaining we've got going on here...

There are issues with the product and support, but for the most part, the application works great and is much better than anything else out there.

Every application out there has bugs in it, and it seems like Acronis will actually put out patches to try and fix areas where they have problems. For only 50$, you can't expect a whole lot more (unless you sell a whole lot more of this product, which isn't going to happen with this type of application).

Not perfect, but far from being the piece of crap a lot of people are making it out to be.

 

It's not about the product. It's about Acronis releasing a new version which could have been an update. Version 8 comes with 4 new features that aren't useful at all to me. Personally I expected more from a company like Acronis.

It's like having Adobe release a new version of Photoshop and it being in the sorry state that True Image 8 is in now. It would never happened, Adobe would never try to pull something like that off. I used to think that way about Acronis as well, but that was two days ago..

I just had to high expectations from Acronis I guess.. so excuse me if i'm wrong here and putting to much weight into their version numbers.

 

I am not trying to justify the actions of Acronis here, but keep one thing in mind. I have been in this situation myself:

1. Programmer fixes bugs and adds various features to product.
2. Marketing decides to bump up the version number for whatever reason. ("Products aren't good until they get to version 4.0" , "Competitor company x is at version y right now, so we need to play catch-up", etc...)
3. Programmer thinks the reason for inflating the product version number is unjustified and speaks his mind.
4. Programmer is told to let Marketing do their job (increase profit), and you do your job (code).

It is Marketing who decides to bump up version numbers. Not the programmers. Not the support people. Not the people who are really "in the know" about what's going on with the software.

Do I personally think that the version increase to 8.0 is for the most part unjustified? Yes, as a matter of fact I do. The changes in the product features between 7.0 and 8.0 appear to be very minor. Am I going to hold it against Acronis? Nope. I know they have an excellent product. Have you ever bought something (like a TV for example), only to find that it goes on sale next week? Such is life. The fact that they are providing free upgrades for those who purchased ATI 7.0 within the past month and for those who at any point experience problems in 7.0 that are fixed in the 8.0 line, shows that they are being reasonable.

 

Reasonable yes. Proactive no. No customer should have to bitch to get an upgrade.

Having been a Software Product Manager and Marketer at various levels... you also have to remember that in many cases Marketing receives a directive from Sr. Mgmt like "we need more revenue for 3Q/4Q". It's their job to hit the goal.

Granted if the directive is a very bad idea (TI 8 is a bad idea), the clever product manager/marketer will do a cost-benefit analysis and some research to show Sr. Mgmt that in reality there are better ways to hit the goal than doing an incremental/minor upgrade and charging customers for it.

 

Competitor advertising/spam was removed (by me) from this thread.

Problems may be explored here in the Acronis support forum, but free advertising for competitors is not available here - just like every other official forum hosted here.

 

Hi, raja

Welcome to Wilders and Acronis Forums.

You are absolutely right you are.

This is your first post and you have not ask for or giving help.

Just another knocker with link to some product on their first post.

People who come here come for or to give help, not looking for other products.

Take Care,
TheQuest

 

Nonetheless thanks for the link. For 26 bucks I think I'll try Bootit for the very reason previous posters have mentioned. After all it would be less costly than a useless upgrade to ti8. I haven't gotten replies in over a year let alone 48 hours. After all this is recovery software. It leads one to believe that there is a certain amount of haste involved. I don't use this type of software just for the fun of it. I've seen many software companies go down the tubes over the last 20 years with similar stratagies, and it's really a shame, originally there was usually some very very bright dedicated individuals invloved.

 

What does all of this rhetoric have to do with the topic of my thread? Absolutely nothing! I was pointing out an issue, and that was in fact the poor response times for Acronis support after their release of DDS9 and TI8. Nothing more, nothing less. You do not need to "come" here to tell us you are going to "try" XxxxXx for $XX bucks. You may be able to find a forum where your words will be appreciated, but I doubt it!

 

I bought Ghost and I bought Drive Image - both failed to create backups that work - Drive Image will not recongnize my Intel Nic on my Sony Viao 32G and Ghost won't recongnize the Hard Drive on my HP Omni Book - Symantic has worthless support for Ghost and Drive Image - for both products and I had to turn to "BART PE" to get Ghost Working on the lap top and on the Sony.

With all of this - True Image 7 Ver 613 is the only product that works on my home network with all of my machines. Its also simple and thats important to me - because I can't remember complicated interfaces that are not intituive - and TI shines on that.

Just thought Id say something nice on this thread to those seeking other products - I sought - I bought - and I wil stick with TI. Nothing is perfect.

Charles

 

I just read that a new version of Norton Ghost has been released by Symantec. Its called Norton Ghost 9.0 and features imaging within Windows and incremental backups. Now, if I were of a conspiratorial bent, I would have to wonder if the release of TrueImage 8.0 is in any way related to the release of the new version of Ghost.

BTW, this posting is not meant to offend Acronis, which is a fine company. They helped me with some difficult hardware problems and have given me prompt service, and I plan to stick with TrueImage. But, I'm still a little mystified by the release of TrueImage 8.0 with its lack of new features, and I have to wonder.