What on earth has happened to NI?

[johndoe62]

I haven't used the NI website or bought any kit for a few years. I currently use M-Series multifunction cards with bespoke software that uses the C libraries that come with with NIDAQmx. The instrumentation is located close to the computers running the software, so short, 1.5m or 5m, cables are fine. I now have a requirement for using instrumentation that is much further away and in disparate locations, but using the same software. No problem I thought, no doubt NI will have something that fits the bill. From the website it seems as if CompactDAQ might be what I want but I need more information to be sure, and there are a few other questions I need asnwering. In the past I have been able to speak to an NI employee who would have been able to answer the queries and I would have been able to place an order and concentrate on the rest of the project. On phoning NI I was told I should speak to someone at a third party company and was given their phone number. On phoning the company I spoke to someone who was clueless, knew less than I did and was no help whatsoever. What do I do now? The NI website, as far as I can tell, doesn't give the information I require - the documentation and search fuctionality is hopeless, and I'm loath to spend a lot of money on the offchance that what I'm buying is what I want. Why would NI make it so difficult to buy their instumentation? Is the company relying on past performance and existing customers to maintain their market share. If I hadn't used NI equipment in the past I wouldn't look twice at the current range - certainly based on what information is easily available on the website. I am sorely tempted to start looking at other companies' offerings and spend time modifying software rather than chasing my tail trying to get information from NI.

[santo_13]

NI has changed its sales model in recent years going through resellers instead of direct sales in some market segments (if not all). There has been a lot of backlash from customers like you who are displeased with the proficiency of the reseller's team to address key technical questions and feasibilities that are crucial in deciding what to buy.

With this said, it looks like a probable option is to reach out to a local NI Alliance Partner who can work with you to understand the challenges and propose a solution (like a consultant) or even custom-build one. Unfortunately, it won't come for free as in the case of NI Engineers helping you out but you get a more elaborate feasibility analysis and ensure you make the right hardware and software choices for the future to come than NI Engineers who just answer your queries. The story is different if you're already an expert and you just need some things answered.