Re: Followup British Telecom outage reason

[jerry scharf <scharf () vix com>]

--On 11/26/2001 09:22:01 AM -0500 Christopher A. Woodfield wrote:

> My first thought in response to this is the vendor's support costs -
> wouldn't shipping more reliable images bring down those costs
> signficantly? Or is it just that the extra revenue opportunities gained
> by adding $WHIZBANG_FEATURE_DU_JOUR outweigh those potential support
> savings?
>
> -C

What's the upside to $ROUTER_VENDOR in reducing support cost? They already 
make money on the support but can't make too much, so a reduction in cost 
would probably imply a reduction in revenue. Also, given that network 
engineering rarely make support cost a key issue in vendor selection and 
negotiation, reducing support costs look like they have little payback to 
$ROUTER_VENDOR in terms of equipment sold. With that, 
$WHIZBANG_FEATURE_DU_JOUR, sure looks like a good profit decision.

To change this, stop buying gear from vendors that charge too much for 
support.

just my jaded opinion,
jerry